Never the same again
by Zannab0801
Summary: "Um guys, you might want see this", He called out to his brothers. The three brothers instantly stopped in their tracks and flipped around when they heard their brother's voice. It sounded as if he found something interesting, so they hurriedly ran towards him to see what he found. As they approached Donatello, they could identify a green shape their brother was kneeling close to.
1. The green hooded man

He knew how this battle would end. He knew how most of the battles would have ended and so did his brothers. The kraang brain the blue banded turtle held squealed desperately to get out of his strong grip, so he lazily let it drop onto the moist pavement of the sewers and allowed it to scurry away without giving chase. His hand rested on the damp brick walls and he leaned his shell against it as he listened to the world above his head.

Despite the bitter cold air and the fact that it was almost midnight, cars continuously blared their horns at each other and the noise of footsteps repeatedly tapped on the sidewalk as the people rushed through the city. The smell of something burning reached his nose and he closed his eyes as the smell reminded him of the invasion that happened a month ago. Kraang droids holding guns marching everywhere, explosions, pink kraang brains soaring above their heads in machines as they attacked the humans, April caught by the kraang, and him almost dying, twice. Their battle was challenging, but thrilling at the same time, but from the noises above his head, everything seemed to go back to normal for the humans, like the events from the previous month hadn't happened, but for the turtles, nothing had been the same as before.

For some reason he sort of missed the good old days with kraang droids to battle against almost every night, but when he thought about it again, maybe he only wanted things to go back to normal so he could cover up his boredom.

He glanced at his brothers faces and by the looks of it, they looked bored too, well, except the youngest one.

"Booyakashaaaaa!" Michelangelo yelled as he knocked out 3 kraang droids with a 720 swing of his kusarigama. "Oh yeah!" he cheered while celebrating with a moon walk.

"Michelangelo, stop celebrating we're not even done yet!" Donatello yelled while ducking from a blow from a droid. The purple banded brother wasn't sure why he had yelled though, considering they had nothing to worry about and that the battle would end soon. _Oh well, never mind him._ _It's not like there will be an army of kraang suddenly jumping out at us,_ he thought to himself.

Mikey instantly froze after hearing his brother's angry tone and sheepishly grinned at him. "Sorry Don. It's just that, it's been a while since there's been something exciting happening around here!"  
_Even this isn't that exciting, _the purple banded turtle shook his head as he slammed his bō into the head of the droid.

After a couple more flips, punches and kicks the turtles knocked out the last kraang droid. "I guess that's the last of them", Leonardo announced as he stood up from his position of leaning against the wall. The red banded turtle nodded in agreement and added, "Well that was easy…as usual", as he picked up the kraang brain and threw it behind him and hit the wall.

The four turtles began to trot back to the lair, but Donnie froze in his spot and remembered the shuriken he threw sometime in the battle. He knew that they must never leave any evidence behind just in case. He jogged down the pavement with his feet lightly thumping against the ground as he searched for his throwing star. Several kraang droids lay sprawled on the moist sewer floor and the moonbeams seeped through the holes of the storm drain above his head. He carefully stepped over the empty robot bodies and almost tripped over one due to the lack of light at their location. He spotted his shuriken and breathed a sigh of relief as he ran to fetch it. The silver weapon was unfortunately stuck to the wall and he wrapped his hands around it to wrench it out. The purple banded turtle was finally able to pull the throwing star out of the wall and his hands flew back in a windmill motion as he fell to the ground. As he picked up his throwing star, he noticed something green lying on the ground nearby. He wanted to walk away from it and act like it wasn't there, but a special force had pulled him towards it, and he decided to take a quick look. As Donnie carefully crept closer to it, his eyes widened.

"Um guys, you might want see this", He called out to his brothers. The three brothers instantly stopped in their tracks and flipped around when they heard their purple banded brother's voice. From the tone of his voice, it sounded as if he found something interesting, so they hurriedly ran towards him to see what he found. As they approached Donatello, they could identify a green shape their brother was kneeling close to.

When they reached Donnie, the green thing wasn't actually an object, but a human. All three of them froze in their spots and their faces began to turn into a light shade of green. "Donnie! What are you doing?!" Raph hissed.

Donnie slowly stood up and faced his brothers with a worried look on his face. "This man", he started, "Got shot by a plasma gun one of the kraang robots used. Don't worry though, it only hit below his rib cage and it didn't harm any organs, so he's very lucky." When he told them the good news he expected them to breathe a sigh of relief, or show any sign of happiness, but they still had their shocked expressions plastered on their faces.

All of a sudden, the eldest brother began to laugh a little, although it was not the best time to. "Aaaaaaand you're going to take him back to the lair to recover", He said sarcastically and continued laughing. After his chuckles had died down, he looked up at his purple banded brother who had serious look on his face.

"Wait. So you are going to take him back to the lair?!" Raphael said angrily and shocked when he also saw the look on his brother's face.

"Well you'd do the same if it was a pretty girl instead wouldn't ya Raphie?" Mikey asked teasingly.

Raph whipped his head around and shot his little brother a deadly look as he stomped towards him. "You're gonna be very sorry for that Mikey! When I'm done with you, you'll-", the hotheaded turtle started but Donnie interrupted him before he could explode.

"Look guys, this man needs serious medical attention and he's losing a lot of blood as we speak! I know Master Splinter wouldn't want us to take a stranger to the lair, but I can come up with a very good explanation. Don't worry Leo, leave it to me", he explained when he saw the look on his eldest brother's face.

Leo closed his eyes and sighed. "Alright Donnie, I trust you", he answered and with that, they hurriedly scooped up the green hooded man and carried him back to the lair.

**Fin**

So, that was my first chapter of my first fanfic! Please review and give some feed forward on my writing. Not sure when I could post the second chapter, but maybe next week. This is based after season 1 of the 2012 series and will not include anything from season 2 (althought I may put Casey Jones in here). Oh and thanks to SleepingSeeker on feed forward on this first chapter!:D


	2. Unmasked

Footsteps thudded against the pavement. Footsteps belonging to four turtles carrying an unconscious guest in their arms. Their feet clonked clumsily on the ground and their left leg was not coordinated with the right as they ran through the old underground subway. The man swayed from side to side and his legs and arms were held tightly by the four mutants.

"Hurry up!" Leo said as he gripped onto the left leg of the man. Raph rolled his eyes in return and nudged to Mikey to watch out for the stairs behind him. Unfortunately, Mikey didn't notice his brother's warning, and tripped over the steps. He jerked the arm of the man he was holding onto and caused his brothers to tumble to the floor after him. His arms wind milled to balance himself, but he ended up on the floor with a sore bottom anyway.

The others soon joined him on the ground, but their fall was cushioned by the body of their youngest brother. The air was pushed out of Mikey's lungs and he had to keep himself from yelling out in pain. The green hooded man lay sprawled on the floor beside the turtle pile with his legs and arms lying in odd angles. He did not move and his expression stayed the same as before.

"Told you to watch out Mikey", Raph scolded his little brother. He pushed Mikey's head against the floor as he pounced up and dusted himself. Mikey scrambled up from the floor and rubbed his head. His head throbbed from the pain and he desperately gulped a large portion of air into his lungs. "Man you guys should lose some weight."  
Raph spun on his heel and marched towards his little brother. "What was that?!"  
"Nothing. I said nothing", Mikey shook his head and tilted his head to face the other direction.  
Donnie grabbed Leo and Mikey's hands and pulled them up on their feet.

The brothers positioned themselves at the arms and feet of the man. They wrapped their hands around the limbs of the man and squeezed tightly. "One, two, three!" Leo counted before they lifted the man off the ground once again and headed towards Donnie's lab. The purple banded brother hooked his leg on the side of the door and slid it open in one fluid motion.

"Okay lie him down there", Donnie instructed while using his head to point to the stretcher. They gently lay him down and he ushered them out of his working space. "I'll be with you guys in a minute."

Raph steals a quick glance of the man lying in the stretcher. His eyes and the top half of his nose were covered by the hood, but the rest of his face was exposed to the forest green eyes of the red banded turtle. The man looked quite young, maybe around April's age or perhaps a little younger. He was sort of short, so he probably was younger than April. His face was slim, and in a way, looked slightly feminine. He wore a blank expression, but somewhere deep inside, Raph could sense that the man or teen boy, looked shocked in a way.

"Something wrong Raph?" Donnie asks his brother. The red banded turtle whirls around to face his brother and clears his throat. "No I'm fine Don", he replies and strolled out of the lab with the door sliding shut behind him.

/

"Do you think he will be alright?" Mikey worriedly asks his two brothers. He glanced at Raph, but from the look on his face, his mind seemed to be somewhere else. Raph's foot tapping had a hypnotizing rhythm and drowned out all the noises in his head and Leo was in the same state. The three brothers had been nervously waiting for Donnie, who claimed that he will only take a minute, but that minute seemed to stretch on to half an hour.

"We know Donnie, and there is nothing that he couldn't fix", Leo replied to his little brother.  
"What happens if this is the one time that he couldn't fix something?"  
"Don't think so negative Mikey. Donnie will definitely fix up the man, and you know it. Don't you have faith in your brother?"  
"Is the word 'fix' starting to sound funny to you guys?"  
"No it isn't and why are you starting to ask these questions?"  
"Okay sorry Leo. I just want Donnie to hurry so Splinter won't find out"  
"And what is it that you don't want me to know about Michelangelo?"

Splinter emerged from the shadows and eyed his youngest son carefully. He strode down the steps with his eyes still glued to his son. Every footstep echoed in Mikey's mind. And the taps causes his heart to beat a second faster. Mikey glances at his sensei and quickly looks away, avoiding eye contact. He could feel the pair of dark brown eyes watching his every move, like a hawk watching its prey.

"H-have you been here the whole time sensei?" He asks nervously. He grabs the tails of his mask and chews the ends of it, while breathing in and out. In and out. In and out. It will calm him down. Master Splinter, who was still keeping an eye on him, shifted his eyes over each of his sons seated on the sofa. Wait, one was missing. "Where is Donatello my sons?"

"Right here Splinter", Donnie appears as fast as he answered. He briskly walks across the middle of the room and sits with his brothers on the couch. As Donnie takes his seat, Splinter turns his attention to his eldest son. "What has taken you four so long?"

"Um actually Master, I will explain our affair that took place earlier before", the purple banded turtle cuts in. Splinter raises his eyebrow at his third eldest son with a look of curiosity twinkling in his eyes. "You may continue."

"You see sensei, we were battling a small group of kraang droids in the sewers, which ended pretty quickly. Afterwards, I went to go search for my shuriken, and came across a-a human. He was badly injured, so I decided to take him back here for recovery."

"I see, and where is he now?"  
"He's in the lab, but he isn't moving much and I need to find out why."

Donnie chose his words carefully, and hoped they wouldn't get in trouble. Splinter nodded at his son's explanation, and thought about his decision. After moments of thinking, Master Splinter replied, "Donatello, you know you must never bring a stranger back to our home, but you let your kind heart make the decision for you, and it was a good choice. Even though you are disobeying the rule, you also must never turn your back on someone needing help. The man may stay until he heals. "

Master Splinter spun around and began to walk back to the dojo to meditate on his decision, when Donnie stopped him. "Th-thank you Master", he bowed in front of Splinter. The rat placed his hands on both of his son's shoulders and said, "No, it is the human that should thank you", before he walked away. The purple banded turtle smiled softly as he watched his sensei return to his room.

"I think that went rather well", Leo told his brother. The three brothers patted the shell of their purple banded brother before parting to their rooms to get some much needed rest.

/

"I hope he's going to be okay", Donnie said aloud as he gathered the tools and medication he needed. _Let's see, ah there's my suture kit. Forceps, scissors and absorbable suture. Perfect._  
As he walked over to his patient he realized that he had never actually seen the face of the man.

_Hmmm. I wonder what he looks like….._

His fingertips brushed lightly over the green hood, covering 1/3 of the teen boy's face. His breath caught in his throat and he grasped the green material gently. He slowly and steadily uncovered the hood from the man's head, but what he saw gave him the shock of his life.

"G-g-g-guys! You have got to see this!" Donatello yelled. His voice echoed through the lair; instantly woke up his brothers that were just about to fall asleep. Their eyes immediately flew open and they shot out of their beds. They quickly yawned and stretched before heading to the lab.

The three turtles sleepily trudged towards the lab of their scientist-like brother. "Donnie we are trying to get some sleep. What is it now?" Leo muttered as the three piled into Donnie's lab. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and the orange banded turtle slapped himself on the cheek to stay awake. As his eyed switched to the body on the stretcher, he gasped.

The other two pairs of eyes fell upon the person unconscious on the bed and their eyes popped out in surprize. On the bed wasn't a man or boy, but a young teenage girl. She had wavy chestnut hair that draped past her shoulders and she looked at least 2 years younger than April.

Mikey clamped his hands over his mouth and said, "Donnie what did you do! I can't believe you did plastic surgery on the guy and turned him into a girl!"

Raph shook his head and groaned in frustration when he heard his little brother's comment. He face-palmed. "No Mikey, Donnie didn't turn the man into a girl. I think this 'man' was actually a girl this whole time", Leonardo stated while thinking back to the moment when they saw her in the sewers. _It was dark and the teen girl had a hood covering most of her face, so we wouldn't have known when we found her.  
_  
"Oooohhhhh. Now I get it. But what are we going to do with her?" Mikey questioned. "Master Splinter will probably let her stay here even if she is a girl. I'm pretty sure it won't make a difference", Donnie answered while turning to face his brothers.

"So, what now?" Leo wondered aloud. No one answered. They were deep in thought. After a couple of minutes had passed, Raph decided to break the long silence, so he suggested, "Maybe we could try waking her up?"

Donnie thought about his suggestion and gave a small nod. "I guess we could try…." He replied although he was unsure about the idea. "Who's gonna wake her up?" Leo asked his brothers, but he already knew who they were going to pick. The three brothers laid their eyes on their youngest brother and smirked.

"Mikey", they said in unison. "Nooooo NOT again! First you guys chose me to wake up Master Splinter with Donnie's bō staff and now this?!" Mikey exclaimed, thinking the point he made will change their mind. But his brothers all had the same expression as before, and pointed to the girl.

"Fine I'll do it", He muttered. Mikey silently tiptoed over to the brunette and trembled. He was so close to nudging her on the shoulder, but he hesitated and cowardly back away. His brothers eventually had to push him to her because he kept trying to run away.

Mikey finally gave up and trotted over to the teenager and poked her in the cheek. He swiftly ducked beside the stretcher the girl was laying on and expected her to open her eyes or twitch, signaling to them that she woke up. Mikey waited a couple of seconds but still nothing happened. He cautiously peeked over the stretcher and found the girl laying there just like before. He turned towards his brothers and they just shrugged, so he faced the girl again and nudged her shoulder. Still no reaction. Mikey began to lightly tap her, poke her, nudge her again and again but she still didn't do anything. He finally got to the point where he grabbed her shoulders and started shaking her until Raph had to pull him away so her injuries wouldn't get worse.

"Donnie what's wrong with her?" Mikey asked after he pulled away from his brother's grasp. "I'm not so sure why she isn't reacting. She should've woken up by now", Donnie stated. He thought for a moment and added, "I'm going to run a few tests to see what's going on, so you guys just get some rest and I'll tell you the results tomorrow morning before training. Goodnight."

His brothers nodded and gave a light pat on his shell and mumbled 'goodnight' before going off to their rooms to catch a few zzz's.

_**Fin**_

Surprise surprise the man is a girl! (Sorry if I disappointed any readers with the twist). Please review and give feed forward on my writing. I'll try to post the next chapter on Friday! :D


	3. Sleeping Beauty

A yawn escaped from the mouth of the purple banded turtle as he stretched his arms above his head and rubbed his droopy eyes with his hands. Still lying in his bed, his hand hovered over the things placed on his nightstand, and he stopped at the spot where his mask lay. He dropped his hand on top of his purple mask and grasped it. The feel of the fabric was rough, and he asked himself if he should iron it first. After a moment of debating, he decided to do it later, so he sat up on his bed and he tied the mask around his face.

His eyes sleepy darted over to the stretcher on the other side of the room that held the young brunette in it, and he sighed in disappointment. "I can't believe nothing worked", he mumbled as he swung his legs over his bed and rested them on the ground. Donnie shook his head to get himself awake and then glanced at the clock on the table. He blinked a couple of times and looked closer at the time.

"Oh man I'm late!" The worried turtle shot out of his bed and sprinted into the dojo.

He stopped short at the door and straightened his mask before calmly entering the room. "Good morning everyone" Donnie said as he walked in. His three brothers stopped and tilted their heads towards their 2nd youngest brother and mumbled in unison, "hello", before going back to their training. The purple banded turtle sighed in relief knowing his brothers did not notice he was late for training.

He smiled as he watched his brothers engaged in their combat and just remembered that he forgot his weapon. He hurriedly ran back to his lab to fetch his bō staff and grabbed a brown stick leaning on the doorway of his lab. He hastily snatched it and sprinted back to the dojo to spar with his brother.

He ran to the middle and bowed to his brother before beginning. He took his fighting stance across from Mikey, with his weapon tilted at an 180 degree angle, held up in front of him.

Donnie was the first to make a move and swung low at Mikey's feet, which Mikey dodged by jumping up. Both movements were swift and elegant; almost like a ballerina dancing.

The purple banded turtle grinned mischievously, knowing the movement his brother made, and whirled his weapon at his brother's face, who was halfway up in the air. The weapon struck Mikey's face and sent him crashing to the ground. The wind was knocked out from his lungs and a small yelp left his lips. He back rolled on the floor and landed on his stomach. His arms were sprawled flat on the floor and a bright red mark was beginning to show on his left cheek. _Ooooh that's going to leave a mark, _Donnie looked at his brother with pity and slight shock.

"Ooowwww! Watch where you point that scruffy thing! You got some hair in my mouth!" Mikey cried out at his brother. He stuck his tongue out at him and glared.

Donnie frowned as he processed his brother's words very carefully and looked at his weapon; sure enough it had a "scruffy thing" on the end of it.

Donatello, the most intelligent turtle out of the four brothers, had never before in fifteen years, mistaken a broom for his bō. He sheepishly grinned at his orange banded brother who was busy spitting some hair out of his mouth and wiping his tongue with his three fingers and began to apologize.

"Oh um sorry Mikey, I-I-I didn't realize I was using a broom", he admitted as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. He cleared his throat and added, "I thought it was my well, you know, my staff…", but his sentence trailed off when his two elder brothers came towards them.

"What's going on?" Leo asked as he watched the youngest brother wiping his tongue with his three green fingers with a confused and curious expression.

"I kinda hit Mikey in the mouth with a um, broom", Donnie explained nervously.  
"And may I ask why, you used a broom?"  
"I can honestly say that I had no idea I was using a broom. Y'know how last night I said that I was going to do some tests on the girl we rescued? Well, I completed them and it took me most of the night to do them. Since all the tests I tried were ones that were to help wake her up, didn't work, I'm pretty sure that she's not unconscious but worse", he stopped for dramatic pause, "she's probably in a coma."

Leo gasped a little and Raph's eyes widened but three things popped into Mikey's head, pepperoni pizza, a skateboard, and video games. None of which are related to define Donnie's scientific statement. Mikey stood there, dumbfounded, and an imaginary question mark appeared above his head, with blinking neon lights. Donnie saw the confusion on Mikey's face and the question mark, so he asked, "You don't know what a coma is do you?"  
Mikey plainly shook his head and waited for an answer.

"When you're in a coma, you're in a state of unconsciousness and it could last more than 24 hours. You will not respond to light, sound or movement. She was probably shocked from the shot the other day", Donnie stated but by the look on Mikey's face he still didn't get it.

The turtle-like scientist groaned and decided to rephrase his sentence. He replied, "She's in a very, very deep sleep. She's like Sleeping Beauty and cannot wake up."

The youngest turtle let the statement linger in the air for a bit, before suggesting, "Maybe she'll wake up from a kiss from Captain Ryan here." He pointed at Leo with his thumb and made kissy faces. The eldest turtle stiffened and his face turned deep red. _Don't let this bother you Leo, Mikey is just acting like a child, _Leo voice echoed in his mind as he breathed in and out.

"Technically that only exists in fairytales", Donnie states.

"What only exists in fairytales?"A voice echoed from behind them. They turned around to look in the direction from where the voice came from, and sure enough, it was April. The red headed teen strolled towards them with her hands tucked in her pockets and she glanced at each of them. Her hair tied in a ponytail, swished from side to side and she blew a strand of red hair sticking out in front of her forehead. Donnie's heart beat wildly in his chest as he watched her from across the room. Her blinks were slow, and to Donnie, it looked like she was batting her eyelashes at him. His breath choked in his throat and he spluttered. She said spoke to him, but all the words were tuned out, and he watched the graceful movements her mouth made. "Hello earth to Donnie?" Leo said as he waved his hands in front of his brother's face. The purple banded turtle blinked rapidly and snapped back into reality. His face turned bright red.

"Oh sorry April, you were saying...?"

"What exists only in fairytales?"

"Oh right-"

"You and Donnie becoming a couple"

"What?"

"No April there was this-"

"We found this girl in the sewers and she's like Sleeping Beauty because she can't wake up. She is sleeping in the lab on a stretcher-"

"May I see her?"

April interrupted the babbling Mikey. The youngest turtle looked at his older brother and shrugged. "Um I guess it'll be alright..." Donnie replied. He motioned for April to follow him as he exited the dojo.

/

"Poor girl", April whispered as she stretched her hand out to touch the brunette's cheek. She stopped short and hesitated. "Don't worry April, she won't wake up", Donnie assures her. The warm skin had a short amoun of contact with the girl's cheek, before she snatched her hand away and clasped her hands together. The heat from April's hand transfered to the brunette and a faded red splotch appeared on her cheek. "Her-her face was so cold. It was like touching the inside of a fridge", April chokes out while still gripping her hand tightly.

The purple banded turtle reaches his hand out and presses the back of it against her forehead. He frowned slightly. "Ah no it's alright April. There's nothing wrong, but I do need to hook her up to a machine that does her breathing, just in case she suddenly stops." April breathes a sigh of relief. The door of the lair slid open a crack and mumbles came from the other side. "You could come in guys", Donnie calls out to them.

One by one, the turtles slipped into the lab. "April your dad just called and said you should come home. It's getting late and you need to do your homework", Leo tells April. The red headed teen gazes at the girl in the stretcher and sighs. She looks back at Leo with an 'I don't want to leave' face.

"It's okay April. The girl will be fine"

"Alright Donnie. I know she is in good hands", and she gives a soft smile to him before heading towards the door. Donnie blushes and waves goodbye at April who stops at the door. "I'll be back to help", she announces and walks out to door.

**_Fin_**

Finally I completed the third chapter! I somehow found it hard to write this one and it's sort of lame and short comparing to the previous one. I apologize for taking so long to put this up, so possibly next week I'll try post two chapters the least! Please review!


	4. Awake

"Donnie, I don't think anything is working", April said. She sighed sadly and collapsed onto the seat behind her. The chair squeaked from the sudden impact but caught her on its lap. April rested her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her hands, with the mixture of sadness and frustration clearly showing. Donnie's eyes were too filled with sadness, but he knew he must never give up. He glanced at the stretcher with the teen in it and watched her chest rise and fall with the help of the breathing machine.

"April it's alright, the girl will wake up when she is ready"

"What if she's never ready?"

"..."

The purple banded turtle frowned. He walked to April and stood quietly behind the chair. His breathing was slow in a rhythmic pattern as he rested both his hands on the red head's shoulders. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll be ready soon."

_/_

_**In Coma**_

Darkness. That was all the brunette could see for what felt like centuries. She felt like she was trapped in a box, no holes for breathing, and it restricted her arm and leg movements. She couldn't see what was in front of her even when she waved her hand in front of her face. She tried to call out, but the only thing echoing back was her own voice. The teen lay huddled in the dark box and sobbed. She had lost track of time, and sometimes she didn't know if she had been asleep or not.

A white light flashed on her face and the dark box she was trapped in, opened up. She stepped out from her box, and stretched while gulping a large proportion of fresh air. She stood in this white atmosphere, still not knowing where she was, but suddenly the ground under her feet opened up, and she was falling.

_**Reality**_

She shot up from the bed gasping. The girl did not remember hitting the ground, and suddenly she is in a bed, with a blanket cozily draped over her body. Arguments rang out from outside and she groaned in frustration. _Just great. Mom and Dad are arguing about something again_.

The teen blinked her eyes a few times, trying to regain focus when she suddenly recalled that her mom and dad had a divorce about a year ago and none of them live with her anymore. She scrunched her eyebrows in confusion and closed her eyes trying to recap what recently happened. After moments of thinking, none of her most recent memories answered what had happened to her, before she ended up like this.

When she opened her eyes again, she looked around at the room she was in. Blue prints and science equipment lay sprawled across the floor or stuck messily on the walls. _Definitely not my room, _she thought as she continued observing her surroundings. Questions popped into her mind as she climbed off the stretcher, and ignored the cold pain that shot up her body when her feet touched the floor. She lost balance, and stumbled to the floor. _Suddenly feels weird to walk again. It's like my legs are too weak to carry myself.  
_She stood up from the floor and tiptoed around the room, while staring at the inventions surrounding her, before stopping at the door.

_The noises have died down so the people outside are probably gone, _she observed when she pressed her ears against the door. Her heart beat loudly and a sudden growl caused her to jump. She clutched her stomach and it growled again. The teen shook her head and took a deep breath, trying to ignore her hungry stomach. Adrenaline rushes through her body and her hands shakily grip the door handle as she counts down from 60. A minute passed by and she pushes the door open just a crack and peeked through it.

No body. The new room she stood in was completely empty. Pizza boxes were spread out across the floor and a T.V was left on. _Living room. Definitely living room. _

Her footsteps echoed in the atmosphere and the door noisily screeched as she slid it shut. She scrunched her eyes in annoyance. Her breath caught in her throat as she froze in her spot, waiting for some noises or movement. The brunette exhaled the air and placed her hand against her chest and leans against the door.

"Hey where's all the pizza?! Oh right, it's still in the living room."  
The voice startled the girl and she flipped her head around as the footsteps tapping against the floor, were getting louder and louder. Her heart pounded in her chest, and it felt like an animal was trying to get out from a cage in her body. Without thinking, she sprinted into an empty room to hide. She spotted the tree and hurriedly clambered up it to hide for a few minutes until the voices died down again.

The sunlight streamed into the room and lightly kissed the carpeted floor. The dust visible in the light danced across the room and jumped every time she breathed air out. The room almost felt magical, apart from the fear that stood in the middle of it.

The only sound ringing in her ears was the sound of her heart panging. "It's going to be alright, it's going to be alright", she repeated to herself. She clung onto the branches tightly and shut her eyes, as if she was about to teleport herself out of the situation.

"You guys just get a head start on training. I need to check on the person for a sec" Donnie told his brothers as he slid open the door to his lab. The door creaked and he shivered from the loud sound. The three turtles nodded their heads and continued their way to the dojo as their brother entered his lab.

The door creaked again as he slid it shut, and he made a mental note to oil it before he joined his brothers for training. He clasped his hands together and spun around to look at his patient. _Doctor Donnie, that's what April calls me. _And he blushes from the memory. As he opened his eyes he gasped.

The stretcher was empty. Empty?! How is that possible?! It looked as if his patient disappeared into thin air. None of Donnie's belongings have been touched or moved. He ran to the stretcher and stared at it. Fresh creases were on the blanket and the stretcher caved in, where the teen should have been sleeping. His eyes made a brief scan around the room to check if she was hiding, but no evidence.

His breath caught in his throat and he worriedly dashed to the dojo to alert his brothers that the girl is gone. He came in with a terrified face and began to rapidly report his confused brothers about the problem.

"Whoa, whoa slow down Donnie. Say it slowly", Leo placed a reassuring hand on Donnie's shoulder. He chuckled at his brother's panicking and patted his shoulder.

"A few minutes ago, I walked in to my lab to check on the girl, but when I looked at the stretcher she was sleeping on, it was empty! I looked around everywhere but it's like she disappeared into thin air!" Donnie buried his face into his hands and paced back and forth. The blue banded turtle's smile turned into a frown as the news lingered in his mind.

"Where could she have gone?" Raph and Mikey both asked together. Donnie was just about to answer them when a thing fell out of the tree unexpectedly and landed on the turtles.

/

_A few minutes ago…_

The brunette reached the top of the tree and patiently waited for the noises to fade until she could make her escape. Heart still beating loudly in her chest, she held her breath so she wouldn't make the slightest noise.

All of a sudden, three giant green animals emerged into the room and started stretching near the tree. Her eyes went wide with shock as she stared at the creatures a few feet away from her. She gasped at the sight and quickly clamped her mouth shut to prevent the green creatures from hearing her. The brunette watched closely and identified the giant animals as half turtles and half human, but for some strange reason they were wearing fabrics on their face which looked like ninja masks. _They're like humanoids, _she thought.

One of the creatures with an orange mask stopped stretching and thought he heard something. He strolled to the tree and looked up in the branches, to see the cause of the noise. The brunette held her breath again as his eyes darted around. "Ca-cooo, ca-cooo", she imitated the sound of a bird. The orange masked creature nodded and turned away.  
"Hey Leo, did you know we have a bird in the dojo?"  
"Sure Mikey, whatever you say"

She raised her eyebrow as she stared at the creatures talking. _Two of them could talk?  
_As the teen watched them continue stretching, she noticed some shiny metal on one of their backs. "Yep. They're probably ninjas", she murmured to herself when she realized the metal were weapons. Suddenly, a fourth giant turtle appeared and almost made her jump and fall out of her hiding place.

It started to babble in a fast voice about some girl disappearing from its room and the other turtles spoke back to it when it finished its sentence. They seemed to have spoken English and not some alien language.

"So they could all talk; that makes them giant talking turtles", the girl exclaimed quietly and she crept closer to get a closer look. As she crawled a little closer towards the edge of the tree, her left hand slipped off the branch and she fell from the tree and collided with the turtles.

_**Fin**_

That's the fourth chapter completed! Sort of rushed, but I'm still quite proud of it. I'll update as soon as I can this week, and please review!


	5. Attacks & Introductions

"Ooooooooowwww" the four turtles groaned as they tried to pick themselves up from the ground. The girl rubbed her head and grumbled. The pain shot through her body and she winced. Her heart beat wildly in her chest from the shock and she deeply inhaled and exhaled to calm herself down. She slowly got herself up and leaned against the tree for support while the turtles were busy checking for injuries.

Mikey tilted his head and spotted the teen girl leaning against the tree. He stood up quickly and beamed. "Found her!" He pointed happily while jumping up and down.

"Yes Mikey we know", Leo groaned and face-palmed. Donnie grinned when he saw the girl there, knowing that she didn't get away without full recovery. _Hopefully, she won't be too shocked._

He gently walked over to the brunette and asked with full concern, "Are you alright?"  
He laid a hand on her shoulder to show he cared, but she frighteningly pushed his hand off and backed away, fear clearly shown in her eyes.  
_You're going too fast. She wouldn't be prepared to suddenly face four giant turtles after waking up from a coma. She is just like April when she first saw you and your brothers. You're monsters. You'd be lucky if she didn't call the police, _a voice spoke in Donnie's head. He frowned and stepped back behind his brothers. He crossed his arms and gazed at the girl, with hurt written all over his face.

The teen stared at the purple banded turtle. With her eyes still locked onto his, she slowly walked backwards, until she stopped at the entrance of the dojo. She rested her hand on the side of the doorway. _Run, run, run, _the voice in her head repeated. The brunette was at war with herself. Part of her wanted to escape from them, while the other part was willing to try and talk to them, and ask them how she ended up at their home. She desperately needed answers. Although her heart told her to stay with them for an explanation, the voice in her head spoke louder and yelled at her to run. So she did.

As she removed her hand from touching the wall and resting at her side, she began to walk backwards again, until it broke into a run.

She was sprinting and about halfway across the living room; trying to get to the exit, when Leo suddenly popped up in front of her, making her freeze at her spot.

He slowly walked towards her and held his hands up slightly to show her he wasn't going to hurt her. The girl must've not understood though because she tried to defend herself by throwing a punch at Leo's face. It was a lucky shot and since the blue banded turtle didn't expect it, the blow caused him to fall back on his shell.

He sprang from the ground as fast as he fell, and suddenly had his mind set that he was fighting Karai. His mind was playing with him. The image of the small brunette girl standing in front of him, suddenly transformed into the black haired girl he loved, or possibly still loves. Her silver armor shone in the light, almost blinding him. He lifted his arm and held it in front of his face to shield his eyes. The blue banded turtle growled furiously.

Leo threw a fast punch that was aimed near her face but surprisingly, she blocked it with ease. He launched a couple more punches and again, the teen girl dodged or blocked them. _How is she doing it?! _Leo's mind asked with a hint of shock. It seemed like she knew every move he was going to make; every strategy planned in his mind.

She attempted to round-house kick him but Leo quickly stepped aside before her leg hit him. Leo tried to strike once again, but the brunette grabbed his arm and flipped him in one fluid motion. He landed on his shell again with a thump and the girl took this chance to escape.

His vision blurred and he rubbed his sore shell as he watched her sprint up the stairs.  
"Mustn't. Let. Her-"  
"Don't worry Leo, we got this!" Donnie said to his brother. Leo nodded weakly before resting on his stomach on the floor. Mikey and Donnie spring into action and both somersault above her head. They land inches away from her and the brunette slams into the purple banded brother's chest for she did not see them. The teen flies backwards and slides across the floor on her back.

As the two turtles approach her, she props herself up with her elbow and glares at them. _Man I think I got floor burn, _she shuts her eyes in pain as she touches her back. Donnie and Mikey stand around her and gaze at her sadly. They didn't want to hurt her, but they had no choice.

She switches her eyes to stare at the floor and an idea pops into her head. She looks at them with innocent eyes. When she was sure they had let their guard down, she swept them off their feet with her leg. They collapse and land on the floor, winded. She picks herself up and begins to run to the exit.

Mikey swings his arm and knocks her off her feet with his hand. He bounces up from the ground and brings his hand to his sides where his nun chucks were placed. His hand brushes over the handle of his weapon and he hesitates. He knows he can't hurt her. But how? He must defeat her in combat so she would stop trying to run away. It was his only option. The only way.

The teen eyes him carefully as she stood up. Mikey pulls his weapon out and holds it in his hands, the cold feel of the weapon causing him to shiver. He holds it out in front of him with a fighting stance.  
_I guess that's the way he wants to play, _the brunette's voice echoes in her mind as she clutches her own weapon tucked away under her sweater. She runs her hand over the metal and grins. She whips her small weapon and also holds it with both hands in front of her.

Mikey stares in awe at the weapon she held. A kunai. The most magnificent kunai he's ever seen, but then again, he's only seen two in his whole life. The small cherry blossoms decorated on the handle that stood out bright pink and contrasted her skin tone. The metal glimmered as it reflected the light coming from above.

The brunette shifts her feet on the floor and also takes a fighting stance. She crouches on the floor on one knee and stretches the arm gripping onto her kunai. The orange banded turtle lunges at her with his nun chuck twirling in his hand. He brings his nun chuck down at her, but she jumps away and the nun chuck slams on the ground. The girl tosses her kunai and it misses the turtle's face. Instead it gets caught on the tails of his mask and keeps flying until it is pinned to wall. Mikey's head hits the wall and he is unconscious in seconds. _I guess I'll have to leave my kunai, _the teen decides as she sprints to the exit.

Just as the teen reached the doorway, Raph charged from behind her and tackled her around the waist. She fell like a ton of bricks, but Raph picked her up and shoved her against the wall.

"What do you think you're doing?! We've been helping you while you were asleep for five months and this is how you repay us?!" Raph screamed at her face. She looks at him shocked. A growl comes out from the back of his throat. He tiredly breathes in and out. He stares at her face and his expression softened a little when he saw the fear in her eyes.

She swallowed in the information he had yelled at her and processed it into her head. _Five months?, _she thought, feeling confused.

The steel blue eyes of the teenage girl locked onto Raph's and she began to tremble in fear as his eyes drilled into hers, although that wasn't his intention.

"I-I-I-I'm", she stuttered while trying to wriggle out of Raph's grip, but he had firmly pinned her to the wall with her feet now dangling a couple of inches from the ground. She could feel his hot breath brushing against her skin and she looks down to avoid his piercing eyes. He could hear the beat of her heart as it pounded violently in her chest. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-", Raph tries to apologize. The girl suddenly feels limp in his arms. Black spots appear in front of her eyes and the darkness slowly swallows her.

_**Fin**_

Fifth chapter completed! I'm working on the sixth chapter right now and hopefully I will update again soon! Please review!


	6. Leaving the lair

The teenage girl slowly opened her eyes but everything looked so blurry and fuzzy. Her head was spinning and for some reason her forehead felt a bit wet. She blinked several times and her vision gradually got clearer until she could see properly.

She looked up and saw the purple masked turtle gently dabbing her forehead with a damp towel and the other three turtles crowding around her while watching her closely. They were all seated on the couch (except for the girl who was lying down on it).

"Where am I?" the girl asked the turtles when Donnie finished dabbing her head with the towel.  
"Actually-"  
"Maybe you should answer our questions first and then we'll answer yours!" Raph butted in as Donnie was just about to reply. The red banded turtle suddenly felt confused when he heard the tone of his voice because it sounded foreign, and impolite.  
The teen hesitated at first but then she saw the look of curiosity and slight anger in all of their eyes and sighed.

"Fine. Whatever", she stubbornly replied. The brunette was about to get up from her seat but a sudden tugging caused her to fall back.

She glanced at the silver chain handcuff that was wrapped around her wrist and turned her head around to give a cold look at the creatures.

The turtles all looked at each other before Donnie answered, "It was Raphael's idea", and pointed to the red masked turtle.

She raised an eyebrow at him, but Raph just huffed and faced the other direction, not meeting her eyes. _She deserves it_, he thought, and the guiltiness crept back onto him as he quickly glanced at the girl staring daggers at him. Does she deserve it? Raph was getting mixed feelings. He felt extremely guilty and pitied her, but he also felt that she might escape so he handcuffed her just in case. He wanted to apologize, but it was a little too late for that.

It was starting to get a little awkward between them so Leo decided to break it by starting off with an icebreaker. "Sooo. What's your name?"

The brunette was still glaring at Raph and later realized that Leo asked her a question after a couple of seconds. She leaned back in the couch since she was still a bit dizzy and replied, "My name is Jaylene." She paused for a second and added, "Is there anything else you need to know?"  
_Well that tone of voice sounded a little harsh don't you think, _the voice in Jaylene's head asked.  
_I don't know! I was just asking!  
You could've asked with a nicer tone.  
Well sorry! I didn't realize! _Jaylene argued with herself. The turtles stared at her in confusion and Mikey decided that he was quiet for too long, so he piped up. "Why were you down in the sewers a couple of months ago? It's not like anyone would casually stroll into there for a walk", He inquired.

Jaylene thought for a moment and became aware that none of her recent memories solved anything.  
"Um sorry guys but I'm a little confused about that myself too. All I know is that I went there and I've been asleep for five months, since I got that from you guys. The last thing I remember is that my parents divorced about a year ago and wanted to move far away from each other and I didn't want to go with any of them. Luckily they approved of my decision since my dad's best friend lives down the road of my apartment and he helps take care of me. He's doesn't come around quite often though, so I'm kinda by myself…"

As she finished her sentence, tears began to form in her eyes. She never liked to remind herself that her mum and dad divorced. She had always wished they would be a real family ever since they started bickering in the middle of night. It tore her apart. She did her best to hold her tears back, but once she blinked, the tears slipped out one by one down her cheeks.

Donnie looked up from staring at the floor and saw the tears forming in Jaylene's eyes. He scooted closer to her and pulled her into a sort of hug to comfort her. To his amazement, she didn't mind the hug and moved closer to him until his arms were completely wrapped around her. Jaylene lay in Donnie's arms for a bit and began to sob into her lap.

Suddenly, Master Splinter entered the living room and everyone immediately snapped back into reality. "Good morning Master Splinter", Leo greeted and bowed respectfully. One by one, everyone stood up and bowed to their father except for Jaylene because she was processing the fact that they're turtles and their father is a rat.

Master Splinter bowed in return and looked over Donnie's shoulder to find that the young woman they rescued has woken up after five long months. "I see why you are not training my sons", Splinter said and tilted his head towards Jaylene's direction.  
"How are you feeling miss-?"  
"Jaylene. Jaylene O'denlly", she cut in. "Oh and I feel good. I mean, better than before I guess."

Just as Jaylene stopped talking, Raph immediately shoved a question at her because he could no longer hold it in. "Where did you learn to fight like that eh? You showed some intense skill when you were fighting with my brothers." He then realized his comment sounded more like a compliment, and he flushed in embarrassment as he turned his head away. _Nice one Raphael, _he thought.

Jaylene's face turned bright red from a mixture of anger and blushing. "My father taught me taijutsu. He said that knowing some kind of combat technique will come in handy, and I guess he was right."

Splinter nodded approvingly and was quite delighted to hear that she chose to learn a type of ninjutsu.

Jaylene interrupted Splinter's thoughts though when she asked, "I've summarized my life story. Care to tell yours or at least introduce yourselves?"

The four ninja turtles turned around and faced their Master to see if he'll let them tell her about themselves and their story. Splinter replied to Jaylene saying, "Yes. Perhaps you will listen to the story after my sons introduce themselves".

Leo nodded and stood up to introduce the family. "I'm Leonardo or Leo for short and that's Donatello nicknamed Donnie. Michelangelo but he prefers Mikey and Raphael or Raph for short. And this is of course Master Splinter."

Splinter and Jaylene bowed to each other before Splinter said, "Now I will tell you the story of how we got here."

"Yaaaaaaaayyy! It's story time!" Mikey squealed happily. He bounced up and down in his seat before flopping down to lie on his stomach. Leo grabbed the keys for the handcuffs and unlocked them so the teen could get comfortable. She smiled at him to show her gratitude and sunk into the couch as Splinter began to tell their story.

/

"Interesting story" Jaylene exclaimed when the Splinter finished ended. "Do you wish your daughter was here right now?"

This question took Splinter by surprise and a knot grew in his stomach as he gulped nervously. His face stayed serious and stern though, to not give anything away. He looked around the room as if some unwanted guest were listening but switched his attention back to the young, curious girl. He wondered if he should inform them that Karai was his biological daughter and that his sons and Karai are siblings, but he decided against it. _The news would be too shocking for them. I will choose to tell them when the time is right.  
_"I do not wish to go back to the past and change the present because my sons would not be here and I do not want that to happen. I do wish I was able to watch my daughter grow into the beautiful young woman she would be."

"Cool a sister!" Mikey squealed as he jumped up from his seat. "But speaking of sister, here comes one right now", and two seconds later, April emerged from the entrance carrying her laptop and some homework she wanted Donnie to help with.

She paused though when she spotted Jaylene seated on the couch, but her face expression quickly changed back into a warm, friendly attitude. She beamed brightly and a small squeal erupted from her lips. The red head dropped her stuff on the floor and zipped over to Jaylene to greet her.

"Hey there! My name is April O'Neil. What's your name? How are you feeling?" April excitedly asked and held her hand out for Jaylene to shake. The brunette was a little startled by April turning up all of a sudden and this was all new to her which caused her to tremble a little bit. She mumbled, "I'm fine. My name is Jaylene", and took April's hand and shook it so she won't be rude and leave April hanging there, but then she shrunk back in her seat, feeling sort of shaken. She wrapped her arms around herself and gave a weak smile at the other girl.

April seemed to read Jaylene's mind and changed her expression back into neutral mode. She breathed deeply and sighed. "Sorry if I frightened you Jaylene. It's just that you've been asleep for like, two months and then you're finally awake and moving around or well, sitting up. We were sort of doubtful that you would wake up anytime soon", she explained to the brunette. "By the way, how did you get tangled up in this mess?"

"I-I don't know. But I'm trying to remember how. The turtles said they found me unconscious in one of the parts of the sewers a few months ago. I dont even know how I ended up there in the first place."

April gasped and looped her arms around Jaylene to give her a hug. She squeezed tightly and stroked the teen's hair soothingly. She pulled her arms away and spun her head to face the purple banded turtle. "Hey Donnie, do you think you could make a machine that can retrieve Jaylene's memory?"  
"Um sure April. I'll do anything for you April"  
"What was that Donnie?"  
"Nothing. That sort of technology is light years ahead of ours, but maybe I could try use a similar design to the kraang's technology…" and his sentence trailed off as ideas popped into his mind. He also began to mumble some words to himself, but Jaylene interrupted him.

"First things first though, I really need to get home guys", she explained to them. The tone of her voice was very impatient.

"What's the rush? Are your parents worried?"

"No my parents dont know, because I haven't seen them for a whole year! Okay look, I just want to get home and forget this whole thing happened."

Her sentence struck the turtles and a wave of hurt hit them. They gazed at her sadly. "No wait, that's not what I meant. I didn't mean I wanted to forget you guys, and I'm thankful that you helped me-", then she realized explaining would not help covering up what she said. She hurt their feelings. She didn't want to forget them, but what she said was already done. She can't take it back. "I'm so sorry, I'm really sorry", she apologized and shot up from her seat and sprinted away.

_**Fin**_

Sort of lame title but I really couldn't think of anything else. I feel like it's really rushed…Is it happening too fast? I may go back to make some minor adjustments if I can if anybody is upset with this. Again, please review!


	7. Déjà vu

Twenty. Minutes. Twenty minutes since she ran away from the home of the turtles. Twenty minutes of roaming in the sewers; trying to find a way out. Jaylene exhaled deeply and groaned. She placed her hand on the moist sewers wall, thinking of the events that happened earlier.  
_I just want to get home and forget this whole thing happened_.  
_**Forget this whole thing happened.  
Forget this whole thing happened.**__  
_Those words… they hurt her new friends. The friends that saved her from the jaws of death, and took her in, even though they didn't know her. They were so kind to her, and yet, all she did was complain about how much she wanted to get home. _I didn't even really thank them._  
Something heavy weighed down in her chest, and she knew what it was. Guilt. Regret. Anger, towards herself. _Hopefully they will forget me, and my words. Please forgive me, _the thoughts echoed in her head.

Another thought appeared in her mind. _Fear. Fear of never returning home.  
_"I really need to get out of here", she announced to herself. "I've been living in New York for a whole year, and yet I still don't know my way around. But then again, the sewers don't really count."  
She glanced down at her watch. 6.04pm. _At least it won't be too dark around this time of night._

She looked up into the rectangular holes of the storm drain. The orange light coming from the sky touched her skin, causing faded, orange rectangular shapes to float on her face. She opened her eyes and she could see wheels of cars rolling past and the occasional shoes of the people crossing the road. The sun was setting and the sky had a mix of orange and pink. It looked like a painting. Ever since she woke up, she had never felt so relaxed, and who knew that the sewers was the best place to enjoy the silence and peace.

A familiar, but foreign voice suddenly called out to her, "Jaylene!"  
The brunette tilted her head to look for the person that called to her, but there was no one in sight. The voice sounded like April's voice. April. Maybe she could ask her for help. No. April was one of the people she hurt, and the red head would not forgive her for those words…right?  
"Oh well, I guess I could try asking her…", but a sharp pain shot through her body, stopping her in her tracks.

Jaylene crumpled to the floor and clutched her side below the ribcage where the pain was panging. Images whizzed through her mind, four bulky shadows, gunshots, silvery robots, and the moist pavement she laid her hands on as she collapsed to the ground. Was that a flashback? The pain felt like déjà vu.

She winced as the pain increased and the blood was beginning to seep in between her fingers. She began to drag herself across the filthy pavement with a trail of blood stained on ground. The pain was unbearable, and she didn't have the strength to crawl anymore. She stopped at one point, and remained lying on her stomach, too tired to move. _No one is going to find me; the turtles are too far away... _she thought as her eyes began to slowly droop. The teen tried to blink to stay awake, but it was too late and her eyelids eventually shut.

/

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna go find her", April said as she stood up. It had been ten minutes since Jaylene had left the lair, with her hurtful words lingering in their minds. Deep down, April knew that the brunette didn't mean it in a bad way. She knew how she felt. Desperate. Scared. Worried. She must've been homesick.

April remembered the day the turtles told her that she had to stay with them so she would be safe from the kraang and Shredder. At that time, the teen wanted to curl up into her own bed, and not wake up every night with the bed soaked in sweat after nightmares of the kraang capturing her, and torturing her. Even though she felt safe, she craved to see the sunlight, birds chirping and the streets of New York pouring with cars again. She especially wanted to see her dad again. The warm hugs he gave her and the image of his face appearing into her mind caused her to cry herself to sleep. _At least he's safe at home again_ _and all that is over, _she thought with relief.

April turned her attention back to the turtles. "Guys, I know she didn't mean to hurt you, but she's probably lost in the sewers somewhere, trying to find her way back! If you're not coming with me to go after her, then fine."

The red head tilted her head to gaze at Donnie, her closet turtle friend. The flicker of hurt flashed in his eyes. After what the turtles had done to help the brunette, she knew the pain he felt. She crossed her arms on her chest and looked at him hopefully. "Donnie? You're coming right?"  
The purple banded turtle cocked his head at her and stared. His eyes were blank. He didn't want to come. The red head gasped. She never saw that look in his eyes. "Fine", April said angrily. Steam blew out of her ears. She stormed off with the footsteps pounding noisily after her.

/

Ten minutes passed. April felt tired, hungry and her shoes were squelching as she slowly trudged. "Jaylene?! Jayleeeeene?! Where are you?!" She called out. The teen paused and listened for any reply. No sound. _She must be trying to ignore me._

Several seconds past and a small cry suddenly echoed from one end of the sewers tunnel. April froze and listened. The same cry erupted and the red head shut her eyes to concentrate. _Listen to where it came from exactly. Listen..._

Suddenly, April could see Jaylene in her mind. The brunette was lying on the floor, yelling in pain. A puddle of blood was spreading around her and tears streamed down her face. "Jaylene!"

April hurriedly pulled the t-phone out of her pocket and speed dialed Donnie's number as she sprinted. She pressed it against her ear. "Guys, something is wrong with Jaylene! She has a nasty wound that's pouring with blood and she's unconscious! Please find her quick!" She yelled at the phone once she heard Donnie's voice.

"April?!...Don't worry April we'll be there soon!" Donnie replied to April while motioning his brothers to get out and find the red headed teen with the coordinates from her t-phone.

April huffed as she continued to sprint towards Jaylene's location. Her feet skid on the pavement as she came to a halt. _Hopefully this is where she is_. April cautiously tiptoed down the tunnel and prayed that no kraang droids were around. Thankfully, there were none in sight or in earshot. She squinted her eyes when she spotted a figure on the floor.

Her jaw dropped at the sight in front of her. Blood. Blood everywhere; all over the fourteen year old's body, waist below. A horrifying sight to look at from such a young person. April knelt down beside the brunette and shook her shoulders. Her body lay limp in her arms. The red headed teen laid Jaylene's head on her thighs and cradled her. She rested her forehead against the other teen's forehead and began to weep. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry..."

/

The turtles arrived at April and Jaylene's location 5 minutes after they left from the lair and immediately rushed to her aid with a medical kit. "Hang in there Jay, we've got you", Donatello assures the girl lying on the ground. He shuffles over and kneeled next to her as he lightly tapped on her shoulder while pulling out some bandages. He continues to tap her shoulder so she would wake up, but April said to him, "I told you, she's unconscious."

Donnie nodded in understanding as he carefully tipped Jaylene on her left side, so the blood wouldn't drip as much. He then lifted the right side of her shirt slightly to get a good look at the injury.

Raph gaped when he saw the condition Jaylene was in. She was covered in blood. A sight he never wanted to see again. He didn't know why, but the thought of Jaylene and blood didn't suit together. She seemed more vulnerable that way and looking weak was not an appearance the brunette would like. Even though she said she wanted to forget them, she was still their friend and he figured that he didn't like to see a friend in pain.

"I think I'm gonna hurl!" Mikey yelled as he clamped both his hands over his mouth and sprinted down one of the tunnels. Raph smirked when he heard the sound of Mikey puking his guts out, but the three other friends wrinkled their noses in disgust. Mikey hurriedly sprinted back to the gang and his face was slightly pale.  
"That was horrifying. Well, you know what they say, 'at least this place is the sewers'"  
"Um Mikey, nobody says that. No one has quoted 'at least this place is the sewers"  
"Well then I guess that makes me the first!"

"Riiiiiight", Donnie shook his head at his brother's remark and continued, "Where were we? Ah yes, Raph, gently pick up Jaylene and let's go back to the lair." The red banded turtle nodded in return as he scooped the brunette bridal-style. Her head leaned against the top of his plastron and she murmured in contentment. He gazed at her face as she slept. Her expression was very peaceful and from the bags under her eyes, she looked also looked tired. Her two facial expressions were contradicting each other and he giggled softly at that. He rested his cheek against the top of her head and pointed with his fingers to the direction of the lair. "Let's go", Leo announces and April and the three other turtles follows behind him as he turned and headed back to the lair.

_**Fin**_

Yay I finally finished it! Hopefully this chapter is well descriptive so you can imagine what they're doing. Please review and I'll try update again soon!


	8. First patrol

In this chapter, you will find out a bit more about Jaylene. Enjoy!

/

"Jaylene are you sure you're alright? Your cut was fixed up properly, but are you sure you could get up without it hurting?" Donnie asks worryingly as the brunette began to get up into a sitting position.

It had been a week since Jaylene returned to their home in the same condition as the first time they met her. The deep red blood coated her body, and though she had lost a lot of blood, Donnie had been able to save her life once again. He had hoped she didn't have internal bleeding otherwise, she would have died that day. After he told his brothers and April the good news, the one that seemed the happiest, was strangely Raphael, the hot-headed, hard-headed brother. _His behaviour has been quite peculiar though…, _but the brunette interrupted his thoughts.

"Yes I'm fine –ooooowww ow ow ow!" She replied to his earlier question, and slowly lay back down on the stretcher again. As she lay down, she took a glance at Donnie who was wearing an 'I told you so' expression. She sighed angrily and changed her position so that she wouldn't have to look at his face. "Sheeeesh Don. I just feel so trapped lying down 24/7 and I was really hoping I could get up so I could get back home soon."

The purple banded turtle closed his eyes and nodded slowly. "Speaking of trapped, I know how you feel. Our family has been trapped down here for fifteen years, but we were finally able to go to the surface only many months ago. I know you want to get back to your life, but this is quite serious, and we can't let you walk around with an open wound. And Jaylene, I'm really sorry I didn't patch up your wound properly those months ago", he told her softly with a guilty face.

Jaylene gulped after hearing the teen boy's apology, and felt guilty for being sort of rude to him. The memory also occurred to her of when she said she wanted to forget them, although it was a misunderstanding. She played with the edge of her shirt and twirled it with her fingers as she lay there, thinking. She sighed sadly before switching back to face the purple banded turtle.

"Sorry Donnie." The words rolled off her tongue so smoothly, like she had been holding them in too long. "I'm the one who should apologize. A week ago I said I wanted to forget everything that happened and you guys thought I wanted to forget you, so I'm sorry. I'm really grateful for everything you've all done to help me, and I'm glad I met you all, because now I have new friends." She reached her hand up to touch his cheek and looked into his eyes, as if she were trying to look for some sign of happiness in it. _Hopefully he will forgive me._

The purple banded turtle looked into her eyes and smiled softly. He took both Jaylene's hands in his and clasped them together. "I forgive you." The brunette beamed and jumped out of her bed to give him a hug. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders tightly as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. Donnie returned the hug and wrapped his arms around her small figure. He rested his chin on her head as he rubbed her back soothingly. _She seemed so desperate for me to forgive her, _he thought as the corners of his lips twitched up. Something warm and wet trickled down his shoulder.

He guessed it was tears of not pain or sadness, but tears of joy belonging to the brunette. His attention suddenly switched to her wound. "Jaylene does your cut still hurt?!" He asked with a mix of worry and shock. He pushed her away and grabbed her by the shoulders. Her eyes widened from his question. She lifted the side of her shirt up and glanced at the scar. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt as much as before. Actually, it didn't hurt at all.

"It doesn't hurt anymore Donnie. I guess I just needed to hear an 'I forgive you' and my wounds would be healed."

/

_A month later,_

The bright yellow sunlight peeked through the window of an aparment and squeezed through the small opening in between the two curtains. The wind gushed through the open window and allowed more light to tumble into the room as it spread the curtains apart. The light touched the floor and paused in it's spot before gliding gracefully across the room, filling the whole place with light. A small figure buried under the sheets and pillows on the bed, grumbled when she felt the heat rest on her dark brown hair. She hastily grabbed one of the pillows laid messily beside her and used it as a shield to protect her head from the light.

She mumbled peacefully once the shade from the pillow blocked the sun. She drifted off to sleep, but a soft knock from the window awakened her. "Jaylene? Can you open the window please? Your other window is open, but I can't squeeze through that", a muffled voice came from the balcony outside. April. Why did she have to come so early?

"I-I'm coming April", the brunette replied. She forced herself out of the bed and trudged sleepily to the balcony window. Jaylene unhooked the latch with a squeak following afterwards. She grasped the handles and pulled it open. The cold morning air hit her face. She inhaled the fresh air and sighed happily before opening her eyes to come face to face with the blue eyed, red head.

"Hey April. Come on in", she greeted her friend in a sleepy tone. April clambered through the window and followed Jaylene into the bedroom. The brunette flopped onto her bed and groaned. She lay on her stomach with her chin resting on her hands and said,"Y'know April, Saturday is my 'sleeping in' day, so why did you visit me so early?"

April sat on the edge of the bed and grinned. "Well I was just hoping Donnie could help me finish off a presentation I have to do about one of the science experiments at school"  
"Hey maybe I could help you!"  
"But you don't do the same science experiments I do. Yours would be more simplified Y'know?"  
"Um April, I have private tutoring. I don't go to regular school."

The red head stared at her friend shocked. "What?! You never told me this! I assumed that you were in the grade a year below mine!"

Jaylene twirled the ends of her long, wavy chestnut hair shyly. She felt sheepish for not telling April she had homeschooling, since they have been friends for slightly longer than a month. Come to think of it, they were almost like sisters, so why had she not informed April about this?

"Let me explain. Since my dad travels a lot for business and conferences, he takes me and my mom with him. My moms pretty busy too, so I have tutoring for the school subjects. We moved too much so I never got the chance to attend a public school", Jaylene said as she propped up her elbow and leaned her chin against her hand.

Honestly, private tutoring wasn't the best thing. Sure, the perks of tutoring were great, she learnt a lot more than she would have learned in a regular school and no one was around to distract her from her learning, but that was it. That was the main problem. There was no one around. She didn't have many close friends because she moved too many places too much. Tutoring and moving took her chance of making friends, and she always felt...lonely. There was no one to talk to her age or even one or two years older.

A sudden gasp pulled her away from her sad thoughts. "We need to hurry. Me and my dad were planning to spend the rest of the day at my grandma's house in New Jersey and he wanted to leave in one or two hours." April stood up and scurried out the bedroom. She made a beeline for the window and sat on the edge, waiting for Jaylene.

The brunette hurriedly stripped out of her pyjamas and threw on a pair of navy blue denim jeans, a plain green v-neck chiffon singlet and a tight leather jacket. She squeezed on her green high tops as she hopped on one foot to where April was waiting. The sixteen year old jumped out the window with the fourteen year old closely following her. They slid down the railing of the fire escape staircase and landed swiftly on the ground. April strolled to the manhole and crouched next to it. She nonchalantly lifted the cover and pushed it aside so they would have enough room to fit in the hole. The two teens disappeared down the hole and slid it shut before heading towards the turtles' home.

/

Grunts and the sounds of metal clashing echoed through the lair. _Hmm they must be training_, Jaylene thought as the sounds became louder when they reached the entrance of the dojo. She leaned aginst the doorway and folded her arms over her chest as she watched them.

She had sparred with every one of them, so she knew their fighting styles. Mikey and Donnie both liked to twirl their weapons before making their first move, while Raph was quick to make a move, and never held anything back. He was a very 'straight to the point' person, so she never hesitated around him, otherwise she would lose the match. Leo liked to get into a comfortable stance and never wanted to show fear, or if he was feeling nervous. Overall, the brothers were different, and she wasn't saying it was a bad thing, because if they all fought the same, it would be like battling robots. Most of the time she would get the upper hand.

She glanced at the purple banded turtle as he waved at them. "Hey April! Hey Jaylene!"

The brunette smiled and nodded in return and watched April walk towards Donnie. "Donnie can you please help me with my science presentation?" She asked. Donnie's eyes turned wide as saucepans as he dropped his staff and ran over to April. "Sure April. I'll do anything for you", he replied and mumbled the last part. He nonchalantly put an arm around April as he lead them to his lab.

Jaylene stood in the side and giggled at the pair. _How cute! How is April oblivious to the way Donnie feels about her?_

As she watched April and Donnie walk away, she felt a pair of eyes staring at her. When she spun around, she had already figured who it was. Raphael. Donnie was his sparring partner and apparently ditched him to help April.

"Okay then Raph, I'll spar with you", since she knew he wasn't going to ask anytime soon. Jaylene took her place on the mat facing him. She pulled out her favorite kunai and held it in front of her. "Nice engraved initials", the red banded turtle commented when he spotted the 'J.O' engraved onto the handle of the small weapon. He smirked as she blushed and thanked him.

They nodded at each other to make sure they were both ready before they began. Raph rushed towards her and whipped out his twin sais. He jabbed one of his sais at her, but she blocked it with her weapon. The metal clashed with a clanging sound ripping through the air. Jaylene pushed her kunai against his sai causing him to stumble back. She took his moment of weakness and lunged at him with her fist. She punched his chest, but Raph flipped backwards before she could strike again. As he landed on his feet, he tossed his sai aiming at her hair. The brunette spun around and stretched her arm out. She caught it. She caught one of his weapons in midair.

Before she was able to turn around, he tackled her in the blink of an eye. She was pinned against the wall by his sais that were pinned on the arms of her jacket. Jaylene was a little winded from the impact but recovered quickly, and resumed to her regular breathing pattern. As she looked up, she couldn't help but freeze when she stopped to stare at his eyes.

When she looked into his eyes, it felt like the first time she had met him, when he had her pinned against the wall, but this time, the look in his eyes were different. They seemed soft, gentle and caring, unlike last time which had surprise and cruelty written all over it.

Raph's eyes at the same time slowly rose from looking down to meeting her eyes, which were at a slightly lower level than his. His dark green orbs stared into her steel blue ones and he felt very lost in them. It hypnotized his mind and he eventually forgot what he was doing.

Jaylene blushed furiously and broke the eye contact before bringing her knees up to her chest and kicking him in the stomach with the sole of her shoes. Raph fell and skimmed across the floor a few feet away. She reached her hand out and yanked both sais out of her jacket. The red banded turtle lay on his shell and began to get up, when something heavy leaning against his chest stopped him. It was Jaylene's foot.

Something blurry and silver was held in front of his eyes, and he blinked a couple of times so his vision would focus. The silvery thing became clear and it was a sharp weapon. To be precise, it was one of his sais.

_How embarrassing, _he thought as he stared at HIS weapon. He lay on the ground stunned. Not only did Jaylene defeat him, but she used his weapon against him!

The brunette extended her hand out and grasped his. She pulled him up on his feet and said, "It was fun sparring with you Raph", and tossed his sais to him. He caught both with one hand and his reply to her was a roll with his eyes and a scowl. A cough ended their conversation.

The two snapped their heads to face Leo as he walked towards them, hands held behind his back. "Jaylene, sensei is very impressed with the skills you show in training, so I was wondering, would you like to go on patrol with us? Tonight? You would be quite useful in battle", He asked her as he held his hand out that grasped a green mask. A green mask made just for her. Jaylene glanced down at the green fabric in his hand and back at his face. She repeated it several times. Is this a joke? She had heard their adventures from April and the experience sounded exhilarating. She pinched her arm and blinked in surprise. Guess she wasn't dreaming!

She hastily grabbed the mask from Leo's hand and hugged him tightly. "I would love to come! Thank you so much!" She released her grip and beamed brightly at Mikey and Raph before sprinting out the dojo to Donnie's lab.

"I think she took that rather well."

_**Fin**_

Sorry this took a while! I didn't expect this chapter to be longer than the others, but then again, I combined two chapters to create this one, since they were quite short if they were separate. I think I can update sometime this week and just to say, it will be an exciting one! Thanks for all the reviews so far and Merry Christmas! (Btw I'm pretty sure you would know who I paired my OC with by now! I also didn't write down that it was a Raph/OC fanfic because it would sort of ruin the intro of the story. Hopefully I didn't disappoint anyone with this). And a special thanks to TMNTfan99099, ilovecartoonsgirl, Tori657, MonkeyGirl13 and Chelse16 for the reviews!


	9. First patrol part 2

It was another cold night in New York City and the rain poured down onto the streets and the rooftops of the unusually quiet side of the city. Rain droplets pittered and pattered onto the concrete and onto the heads of four unnoticed shadows as they leapt across the buildings swiftly, and silently.

Another shadow had soon followed in their footsteps and made quiet splashes as she sprinted in the puddles of rainwater. Her breathing was heavy and her heart thumped in her chest as she tried to catch up with the turtle-like silhouettes that hopped from one building to another.

"Can you guys please slow down?" the brunette yelled to the turtles. The four shadows came to a halt and flipped around to face her. "You tired?" the red banded turtle asked. "Pfffffft no…I'm just bored–yeah that's it, not much action is happening around here", she replied. _You dummy! Of course they know you're tired! You're making it quite obvious, _she growled at herself and face palmed.

Two hours. That is how long they have been running for, and she was dead tired. Sure, maybe she was bored but that wasn't the main reason. She had never run for two hours straight in her life, and her legs already felt like jelly after the first hour. _So much for the hard core gym training I've been doing for the past fourteen years. Wish we could take a break, but they would think I'm pathetic. _

The turtles also claimed there would be danger at every corner, so stay alert, but the only danger they had gotten in so far was when a Chihuahua decided that Mikey would make a great play toy, so it chased him for half an hour straight. Although it was quite entertaining to watch the youngest turtle scared and run for his life away from a dog no bigger than the size of his hand, she was sure that the turtles knew there would be no dangerous things to battle.

That's probably why they asked her to come. They wouldn't want her fighting against one of their enemies since they're afraid she would get hurt, and tonight was definitely empty. Even if there was a minor threat they would have to investigate, she was at least strong enough to defend herself. A small bit of anger bubbled inside of her. She was happy they were looking out for her safety, but she was slightly disappointed that they didn't trust her enough to go into a real battle.

Her legs were shaking as she pondered on these thoughts and she knew she would faint anytime soon. The brunette placed her hands on her knees to catch her breath as the turtles eyed her suspiciously. "Okay we'll have a short break", Leo instructed, "Then we'll quickly inspect the other side and return home shortly afterwards." Jaylene nodded and collapsed to the ground. She lay in a 'starfish' position and took her time to rest. The red banded turtle lifted an eyebrow in confusion and asked her, "Are you sure you're not tired because of your clothing?"

Her ear twitched when she heard the sound of his voice. She picked herself up from the ground and dusted the imaginary dust of her shoulders. "What's wrong with the way I dress?" she replied and gestured to herself. Her green V-neck chiffon singlet was slightly wrinkled along with her navy blue denim jeans. Her hair was tied up into a messy ponytail and the ends were still able to drape over her shoulders. "I didn't realize how long my hair was", she muttered so it was inaudible to the others. She tucked the loose chestnut colored strands of hair behind her ear and shrugged. The only pieces of clothing that weren't out of place were her green mask and her black hooded leather jacket. The mask fitted perfectly on her face and was ironed nicely by Donnie who insisted it would look better. The leather jacket hugged her body cozily, but it was tight enough to expose her small figure. She glanced at Raph from the corner of her eye and could still see him staring at her.

_Well at least it keeps me warm and dry, _she thought to herself. She pulled her hood over her head when she felt the water from the sky plop down on her hair and suddenly sneezed. "Change of plans, maybe we should go home guys before Jaylene gets sick. We've been out here for a while and I think nothing suspicious is going on", Leo told his brothers as he wrapped an arm around the teen girl's shoulders. The turtles shrugged in return and just as they were about to turn around to the direction of the lair, a feminine figure stepped out from the shadows behind them and asked in a sly voice, "Going so soon?"

An instant when they heard her voice, they spun around and whipped out their weapons. Jaylene was caught off guard but Karai's sudden appearance, but shook her head and tighten her green mask. By the looks of it, Karai hadn't noticed her since she was standing behind the tall Donnie and Leo. "Um guys who is she?" the brunette whispered, but the four turtles didn't hear her. They had their eyes locked on Karai and the foot soldiers that suddenly appeared around them. The brothers positioned themselves so that they were encircling Jaylene protectively with their shells back to back and took a fighting stance.

Karai was the first to move and gracefully somersaulted in the air; landing a couple of feet away from Leo. She unsheathed her katana and lashed it out at the turtle in front of her. The blue banded turtle stepped back a little to avoid the sharp object from hitting him, but accidentally bumped Jaylene who stood behind him and caused her to slip against the wet surface of the concrete building.

Luckily she didn't fall, and as Leo ducked from one of Karai's blows, he quickly spun around to face the brunette while mouthing 'sorry'. The teen only smiled at him before he nodded to his brothers signaling them to attack. They all lunged at an opponent and the battle began. While Donnie, Raph and Mikey were busy fighting off an army of foot soldiers, Leo and Karai were engaged in their own battle, in a fight to the death.

Jaylene's feet were glued to her spot and she froze in fear as she watched the action happening around her. She looked over at Leo who had ten foot soldiers sneaking up behind him and were about to strike. The brunette dashed over and slid tackled one of the soldiers and caused all of them to topple over in a domino impact. She winced at the floor burn she got from skidding on the ground and the rain drizzling down on it, made the pain increase.

Leo smiled at her, proud when he saw her take down ten foot soldiers since after all it was her first patrol, but he felt a hint of worry that she would get hurt if she stayed any longer. He used his sword to point to her to the direction of the other building across from the battlefield, so she would wait there and stay safe. The brunette nodded and scurried to the next building, quietly and unnoticed so she wouldn't get caught by the enemy. Unfortunately, Karai glanced over Leo's shoulder and spotted the teen retreating from the battle as she narrowed her eyes at her.

Before Leo returned to his battle with Karai, the kunoichi signaled to twenty foot soldiers to occupy her opponent. The blue banded turtle was soon surrounded by the group of foot and Karai was able to bolt over to the building rooftop Jaylene was hiding in. She smirked when she spied the black hood belonging to the fourteen year old, peeking out from behind a large wooden box. _How pathetic. _

"You should do better than that", Karai taunted as she stood up on top of the box with her shadow looming over the small feminine frame. The brunette's eyes turned into the size of saucepans as she felt a pair of light brown eyes staring down at her; the voice echoing in her ears. "It seems the turtles have a new friend. Tell me, what's your name?" Karai asked and placed her hand on her hip. Jaylene was quite surprised that Karai had noticed her since she thought the kunoichi was busy with the turtles. She wished she still was, but it was a little too late for that.

The brunette was at war with herself, deciding whether to introduce herself to Karai or not.  
_Of course you don't introduce yourself to the enemy! Sheesh rookie, _a voice sounding like Raph's echoed in her head. She shook her head in annoyance as she wondered, out of all her friends, why it had to be Raph to scold her.

Her reply to Karai was pulling out her kunai and holding it firmly in front of her with both hands. "Hmmm I see you're the quiet type. Well that's a good thing, so when I kill you, your death will be silent!" Karai hissed at her before drawing out her own weapon with one hand and resting her other on the ground. She bent her knees a bit so she was ready to spring at her opponent.

Jaylene took her position and shuffled her feet on the slippery ground, so they were locked on the surface. She trembled in fear as she prepared herself for battle. The kunoichi obviously had the upper hand since she was bigger, stealthier, obviously stronger and seemed to have more experience. She clutched tightly onto her weapon and took deep breaths before suddenly lunging at Karai with her kunai aimed at her neck.

Karai stepped to one side, missing Jaylene's blade and struck her arm. The brunette barely missed the katana from cutting her and it sliced down the side of her arm. She stumbled to the ground from the impact and tuck and rolled to avoid her opponent's weapon from cutting her again. She dropped her kunai on the floor and clutched her arm that got hit.

"This is way too easy", Karai mocked while twirling her katana with her wrist. The fourteen year old's face turned red with embarrassment as she stared helplessly at the kunai lying in front of her. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from crying or saying something stupid. _She's right, we've only been fighting for a minute and I already got cut! I'd better step up my game, and lose the weapon, _Jaylene thought as she stood up and glared at Karai.

With her eyes still locked on her opponent, she took off her jacket and kicked her weapon aside. Her injured arm was exposed to the rain that dripped down onto it. She twitched from the stings that ran from her arm, but after a couple of seconds ignored it and watched Karai raise her eyebrows in interest at the bravery she was showing.

Karai followed her lead and tossed her weapon aside while slowly walking up to her. Her slow pace suddenly broke into a run as she brought her hands up to punch the other teen. Jaylene clenched her fists and closed her eyes as she listened to the thumping of Karai's feet echoing on the ground as she sprinted towards her. Jaylene brought her uninjured arm up and blocked Karai's blow as she delivered a fast, hard punch using her injured arm; hitting Karai's stomach.

The punch wasn't really hard since her arm was hurting from the pain, but it was hard enough to get the sixteen year old off guard. Karai fell back from the blow, but got up and smirked at her. "Pretty good, I must admit. I didn't think such a hard punch could come from such a small person." Jaylene only narrowed her eyes at her and did a roundhouse kick just as Karai finished her sentence.

Karai caught her leg and yanked it. The dark haired teen expected her opponent to fall to the ground, but the brunette used her other leg and kicked at the other teen's ankles so the impact was the opposite. Jaylene tried to punch at the teen lying on the ground, but Karai once again caught her fist and pulled her to the ground.

The girls were soon wrestling on the floor and throwing punches at each other. After effortlessly trying to win the battle, Jaylene was able to pin the other teen on the ground. She stared down at her with tired eyes. Her bandana was coming loose and there were bruises and cuts marked all over her body. Her heart beat wildly in her chest and she inhaled some air to calm it down. Though she felt as if she didn't have the strength to attack anymore, she was able to blast one last punch at her opponent's metal mask.

A loud crack exploded through the air as her hand came in contact with the metal. The mask dented and flew off the sixteen year old's face and Jaylene could see the full face of her enemy. When the blue eyes met the light brown eyes, they suddenly softened, but went wide with shock. "K-K-Karai?" the brunette choked out.

Flashbacks appeared in her mind. Two girls racing in the fields and attempting to chase the wind. A chestnut haired girl and a dark haired girl. They lay on the grass watching the clouds and imagined the animals that could be sculpted from them. Jaylene could still smell the freshly cut grass and the sun beating down on her face. The blue sky appeared in front of her eyes, but the memory was quite fuzzy. _I must be hallucinating. _

She clutched her head and fell to the ground as she tried to get the flashbacks out of her mind. "Noooo!" she cried out and glanced at the metal mask skidding across the concrete. She looked back at Karai who had a bruise swelling up on her cheek. _What have I done?_

The brunette sat up and grabbed her jacket that was soaking up the rainwater, while snatching her kunai and clipping it to her belt. She wrapped the jacket around her shoulders to warm up as she tightened her mask once more, and sprinted away from Karai, and away from the battle.

_**Fin**_

I just love this chapter! Not the best writing, but it's the most exciting! Please review and I don't own TMNT. Just my OC.


	10. Lost and found

He wasn't even sure it was possible. A month of no battle had changed every single one of them. And it wasn't a good thing. Their skills had suddenly become sloppy and the rain especially wasn't helping their movements. It felt as if Master Splinter had conjured up the bad weather to see if they could survive with it. He wasn't blaming Splinter for the rain pouring on them, but he jotted it down as a likely reason.

Leo could almost his sensei's voice in his head telling him off for not training harder, and he doubted that they would win the battle against their opponents, but they did. And it felt great. Victory again. A feeling that they were all too familiar with. He knew the battle was over once he heard the last clash of metal weapons and a small 'ooph' escaping from a foot soldiers lips. Karai had somehow disappeared, but he was quite happy so he wouldn't have to fight anymore. _Better train first before I could spar against her again. _

"Easy. As. Pie. Well, sort of", the red banded turtle grinned proudly while holding his hand up for a high three. The turtles high-threed and cheered.

Leo stared at the dark sky above him and spread his arms out like an eagle with wings. He let the rain drip from the sky and onto his body. The droplets trickled down his chin. He opened his mouth and gladly accepted the water that slipped down his throat. It was very refreshing and this moment was the only time he appreciated the rain. But every movement he made triggered a thought to surface in his mind. It was nagging him. It felt like, something was missing. Wait. Make that,** someone** was missing.

Donnie could also feel someone's presence missing. He shut his eyes and dug through the thoughts in his mind. There was an empty space that haunted him and he didn't know why. He paused for a moment or two, and a light bulb clicked in his head. He finally realized what, actually who, was missing. "Guys, where's Jaylene?!"

Mikey and Raph immediately froze. Their breathing hitched and the little brother gasped. They scanned the rooftop and shook their heads. "I think she is waiting at the other building. I told her to hide their so she would stay safe from Karai and the foot soldiers", the blue banded turtle explained. Raph dashed over to the adjacent building, and he began searching for her. His thighs bunched together as he leapt in the air and somersaulted. His landing was silent and he gave a look to his brothers. The look was impatient and scared so the brothers knew he was serious. They jumped after him and began to search.

The four turtles had been looking from one building to the next and eventually the whole area, but they still found no trace of the teen. It was almost six am and the sun began to rise. The sky had turned orange, yellow and pink as the large, bright star emerged from behind the horizon. The turtles had been searching for their friend for more than seven hours nonstop. Their legs ached, their muscles hurt and they were out of breath. By then, they were sure she wasn't still at a building and waiting for them, so they rested on the rooftops where their battle took place. While the three brothers sat on the ground to catch their breath, the red banded turtle began to angrily pound his fists into the brick wall he was leaning against. Dismal thoughts snuck into his head. _She was caught. She's being tortured as you all sit helplessly. She's probably dead now. You claimed you would watch her back and protect her, but look at what you've done. She's long gone. _

He pushed the impossible suggestions out of his mind, but the orange banded turtle caused them to return.

"You think she was caug-"

"No Mikey, no! She can't have been caught by the foot and Karai. She's smart enough to outsmart them", Raph shook his head as he sat down on the concrete with his face buried in his hands. Donnie stared at his red banded brother in confusion, but knew what he was feeling. He felt the same when April got captured by the kraang and kraang prime. He sat down beside his brother and patted his shell soothingly as he tilted his head to face the sky, as if it showed a map to the location of the missing brunette.

"C'mon guys. Let's head back", Leo said. He stood up and offered his brothers a hand. They gladly accepted it without hesitation and he sighed in relief. _At least they are cooperating even though I know they don't want to go back home, _he thought as he jumped off the building to find the nearest manhole. The others sighed in sadness, but they knew they had to head back. The three brothers followed their leader off the building and slipped down into the manhole.

/

Master Splinter anxiously waited at the entrance of the lair for his sons return. His ears twitched to listen for the slightest noise that could possibly be the sound of their footsteps or the engine of their vehicles. An hour went by and he began to get more worried and feared they would never make it back.

Suddenly, he heard little thuds against the pavement getting closer and closer. He listened carefully, and a sudden burp echoed from the end of the tunnel. The sensei grinned when he heard the unpleasant sound, but it felt like music to his ears. _Thank goodness, _he thought as he sighed in relief and chuckled in amusement.

When his sons were in sight, he dropped his staff and ran over to them. "My sons, what has taken you so long? We thought you wouldn't return", he said to them as he embraced them in a hug. "We?" Donnie asked. "Yes. April and I have been waiting all morning for you return. She insisted on staying just to make sure you were okay", Splinter told them.

A blush crept up Donnie's cheek and he began to rub the back of his neck as April approached them. "Are you guys alright? I was so worried", April said and ran to hug them. "Hear that Don? She was worried about you", Mikey whispered to his brother when his turn came to get a hug from April. She wrapped her arms around Donnie's neck and squeezed tightly before linking her arm with his arm and leaning on his shoulder. "Sorry we worried you and Master Splinter, but we were up all night and morning looking for Jaylene. I told her to wait on the rooftop beside the place of our battle against the foot and Karai, but she wasn't there after the fight", the blue banded turtle explained and gulped nervously as he did so.

The faces of the three other turtles turned pale, Splinter noted, and he knew why. "Have you checked her room?" he suggested. The gang exchanged looks at each other and their faces lit up. The color of the orange, red and purple banded turtles were no longer pale and their regular green shade returned.

Raph was the first to make a move. He dashed away from the group and ran to the lair with the others running behind him and trying to catch up. He hopped over the pizza boxes and the beanbag in his way, and sprinted to the bedrooms area. His feet skimmed on the floor as he came to a stop at Jaylene's door. His hand reached for the doorknob but he hesitated. He brushed imaginary dust off his shoulders and straightened his mask before pushing the door open a crack. He peeked through the hole and the small bit of light poured into the dark room. The room was pitch black. The lights were off, but the forest green eyes of the red banded turtle could make out a petite silhouette sitting on the edge of the bed with her back facing him. He breathed a sigh of relief and pushed the door open further, with the squeaking echoing in the atmosphere.

The ears of the brunette perked up and she slowly turned to face the turtle. "Raphael?" Jaylene choked out. The question came out barely a whisper. Her voice sounded raspy and oddly quiet. She lifted her arm and used it to shade her eyes from the bright light that blinded her. It looked as if she hadn't seen light in millions of years. She squinted her eyes at the figure standing in front of her and scrambled across her bed so she could sit on the other end. Her legs hung over the edge of the bed and she blinked slowly as she tried to speak, although no words came out.

The turtle watched carefully and took in every detail of the girl sitting a few meters away from him. Her arms and legs had cuts and bruises swelling up, and a red stripe was marked on her lower arm. A suggestion popped into his mind, and he agreed with it. Karai. She was the one that did this to her. "Wh-what happened?" the turtle asked, with shock written all over his face. He sat next to her on the bed and glanced at her face.

Her eyes were red, and puffy, like she had been crying. The brunette didn't even tilt her head up to look at his worried expression, but leaned her body into his, and started sobbing. She pressed her head against the top of his plastron and wiped the tears with the back of her hand as she moved closer to him; until their legs were touching. The red banded turtle was too shocked to move, but relaxed after a moment and wrapped his arm around one of her shoulders.

It was…sort of an awkward moment. They were sitting in the dark with the young brunette pouring all her emotions on him through her tears. Raph didn't mind though, at least he was the one to comfort her. He could feel the sadness radiating off her and the dark atmosphere reflected it.

Her misery stung him. He never liked seeing a girl depressed, let alone Jaylene, because there were feelings he hid and didn't want to admit. He just never reacted well to these kinds of situations, like the time when he watched a movie with a young woman feeling depressed; it made him uncomfortable. He also didn't know the reason for Jaylene crying. Is she crying from the pain of her bruises? Cuts? Did she twist or sprain anything? There was obviously another reason for her being miserable, and he needed to find out. Soon.

Her sobbing soon died down and he smiled thankfully. There was a sort of desperation inside him, telling him to help her, so he dug deep inside of him to find the courage to ask her.

"I'm sorry", Jaylene sniffled. "Its fine", Raph replied quickly, almost too quickly, as he removed his arm from the comfortable position around her shoulder. Honestly, he didn't want to let go. He regretted his choice, but he shook off the thought. The brunette smiled softly. She moved her head from his plastron and rested it on his shoulder. He was just about to ask her why she cried, but her small voice interrupted him.

"It's just that Kara-"

"So you were here the whole time-wait did I just interrupt something?"

A smirk sprouted from the lips of the blue banded turtle as he leaned against the door frame with a taunting look on his face.

Seriously?! Out of all the moments, all the people, why did it have to be **Leo **to interrupt his moment of peace and happiness he had just shared with Jaylene. She was about to tell him something, but **Leo **had to interrupt her. He fought the urge to punch his brother right there and then, even in front the brunette, but he pushed aside the anger exploding action suggestions. Instead, he answered his brother calmly.

"What? Oh it's nothing Leo. Jaylene was about to tell me something that sounded important", Raph stood up and scurried to stand next to his brother. The last part had a hint of annoyance, but Leo let it slip. His smirk disappeared and he frowned. Important? Hopefully she will explain the reason for her short disappearance. "Let's go outside. Everyone is going to want an explanation", he said. Leo tried to put that sentence lightly, but it seemed that there was no way to make it not sound like a firm demand. He didn't want her to feel intimidated, but it sounded like they were going to interrogate her. Surely she wouldn't think of it that way. He motioned for her to follow them and she stood up shakily as she left out the door, leaving the despair locked in the room with the darkness as company.

_**Fin**_

I just really had to get this up! Don't even know why though, because this chapter won't be as exciting as the next one! More about Jaylene will be revealed! Please review and I don't own TMNT.


	11. Frenemies

Jaylene stepped out of the shadows, exposing herself to the light, and the eyes of the turtles and April. It was a jaw-dropping sight. And not in a good way. Purple, blue and red. These were the only colors marked on her body. Her clothes were slightly torn and her hair was messed up. She was in terrible condition. When she stumbled towards them and sat on the couch, they got a glimpse of the red stripe on her arm. The cut ran from her upper arm and stopped halfway on her forearm.

Donnie reached out his hand to examine the wound, but the brunette narrowed her eyes at him and gave a sour, deadly look. He saw the anger in her eyes and it was frightening. He dropped his arm to his side immediately. _Why did she give me that look? _

The purple banded turtle tore the eye contact he had with her and fixed his brown orbs on his hand, like it had been electrocuted from her gaze. Now that he thought about it, the expression she shot at him was not angry, but possibly grave, and haunting. It was an inscrutable look. Suddenly, she blanked out and tilted her head back, staring at the ceiling. No emotions were showing.

Questions raced through their minds as they peered at her. What happened to her? And more importantly, who did this to her? Jaylene didn't even notice some of the looks they threw at her. After the long silence Leo knew the first thing they should do was apologize. "We're truly sorry for not looking out for you last night."

The brunette stayed silent and did not reply. They felt even guiltier. April rose from her seat and sat next to her friend. She reached her hand out just as Donnie did before. Before her fingertips came in contact with Jaylene's skin, she paused. The red head didn't want to receive the same look that she gave the purple banded turtle. She studied Jaylene carefully and realized the brunette's mind was somewhere else. In a heartbeat, April pounced at the teen and wrapped her arms around her small frame.

Jaylene didn't move. She didn't respond or return the hug. The red head squeezed tighter. She could feel her friend breathing against her body; the light thumping of Jaylene's heartbeat panging against her chest. She finally released her grip and scooted away from the brunette.

"Jaylene, maybe we shouldn't have let you come with us. We thought you could handle yourself out there", Leo said with his voice cracking at the end. He didn't care that his statement was offending, he needed to be firm with her. But it wasn't her fault that she came with them. After all, he made the offer.

He looked up at her, expecting a reply, but she stayed the same as before. She didn't even flinch from his voice. Her eyes were glued to the ceiling; no emotions in them.

"Dammit Jaylene, look at us! What's wrong with you?!" Raph yelled with the anger evident in his voice. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, ignoring the looks from April. Her body was limp as he held her. He knew she was scared of something. Past the blank expressions in her eyes, he could see fear. Something he never saw in her eyes. He didn't know why. It scared him to see her this way and it just didn't make her seem like herself.

"Karai", the fourteen year old choked out. All eyes were on her. "She attacked me. She must've seen me sneak off. We had a one-on-one battle and I-I defeated her. I didn't know it was her until I knocked her mask off." A tear slipped down her cheek and wrapped her arms around herself, quaking with fear. "We are so gonna get her for this!" The red banded turtle banged his fist into the floor. Everyone flinched at the sound and Jaylene held her hands up to motion for them to stop and listen.

"Wait guys! She wouldn't have hurt me if she knew it was me"

"What do you mean?"

Donnie crossed his arms over his chest and arched an eyebrow. "The thing is, Karai didn't know it was me because I had my mask on and my hood over my head", she explained.

"Well why does she need to know it's you so she wouldn't hurt you?"

"Because, because when I was little, Karai and I used to be best friends. I lived in Japan for a bit because my dad had a long business thing there where we had to stay for four years. We both went to a ninjutsu academy and were always partnered up together for sparring. I know I said my dad taught me taijutsu, but he only did that when he had free time. It was quite a while ago though."

"And how long ago was that?"

"It was six years ago. I was eight and Karai was ten years old", she sighed sadly as she collapsed to the floor, sobbing.

"I-I can't believe I hurt Karai. I didn't know. I didn't know" and her lips quivered as she spoke. Donnie knelt down beside her. He rested a hand on her back and patted slowly. "Jaylene it isn't your fault. It was a long time ago and Karai has changed. She may not be the same person you knew before."

Jaylene slowly nodded, but continued to sob. The same question repeated in her mind. What have you done?

More tears spilled out and she bit her bottom lip to try and stop crying. She thought about Donnie's words carefully. Maybe he was right. Karai is probably different, but she still had the thought embedded in her head that she shouldn't have hurt her old friend.

A voice shook off the thoughts. "Jaylene, please come with me." The brunette lifted her head and looked up at Splinter standing next to her. She didn't even hear him walk over to stand next to her. He grasped her hand gently and helped her to her feet. Splinter led her towards his room located at the front of the dojo, near the entrance. He slide the door shut tightly and seated the teen on a sitting pillow. Jaylene opened her eyes and found herself in a small, but cozy room. _Oh so this is sensei's room. _

She tilted her head and watched Splinter carry a teapot and two small cups. "Tea?" he offered. She gladly accepted the drink and sipped on it before the rat began to talk again. "Miss O'denlly, you must not blame yourself for what you had done. Karai is different now, then how you would've known her those years ago. You and Karai were very young, and knowing her father, she would have changed a lot", he paused. The memory of him and the Shredder battling appeared in his mind, and he sighed sadly. _Poor Miwa, _he shut his eyes for a moment before turning back to face Jaylene.

The brunette gazed at the rat sitting across her. _Splinter looks so sad…but why?_  
She finally found the courage to ask, and she said, "Sensei, what's wrong?" she didn't press any further, in case he didn't want to talk about it. Jaylene didn't want to feel like she was prying, but yet, she did. Splinter exhaled deeply before saying, "Oroku Saki, the Shredder had changed. We used to be friends, but now, he is an evil man. His jealousy caused him to keep a grudge against me and take Miwa away from me."

"But I thought you said she died in the fire?" Jaylene interrupted. She clamped her mouth shut and nodded for him to continue. "Yes. I thought my daughter had died in the fire, but..." He paused. "But what?" she face-palmed and sheepishly smiled. Her curiosity took over and she was prying. She didn't want to force him to tell her, if he didn't want to, but his pauses irritated her.

"She is alive." The brunette stared at him wide-eyed. Did she hear him properly? Did he say she was alive?  
"Wait, how do you know? Where is she now?"  
"On the night of the invasion, April was captured by the Shredder and the kraang. I snuck into the Foot headquarters and battled the Shredder. He revealed to me, that on the night Tang-Shen was killed, he stole Miwa, while I thought she too was taken by the fire. He raised her as…Karai." He paused once again to let the information sink in. He breathed in deeply and stood up. "Do not let your guard down around Karai. People change and Karai will use the past against you. You will think she is your friend, but do not expect her to be the friend she was to you back then", he stated firmly, and Jaylene suddenly found herself standing outside his room with the door closed. She could hear shuffling from inside the room and the sound of lights clicking off. She shut her eyes, rewinding the conversation she just had with Splinter. She couldn't believe that Karai, the turtle' enemy and her old best friend, is Splinter's daughter. _More like __**was**__ Splinter's daughter, _she corrected herself.

"Everything alright Jay?" a voice spoke from behind her. She flipped around and spotted the orange banded turtle leaning against the doorway, with curiosity plastered on his face. She held her hands behind her back and shifted her weight uncomfortably. "Nothing Mikey. Everything's fine." Short, simple and firm statement. He wouldn't press on any further. Just as she had hoped, he nodded in reply. "The guys told me to leave you alone so you could calm down, but you looked really sad, so I wanted to see what's wrong." He walked to her and put an arm around her shoulder as a friendly and comforting gesture. "By the way, can I check out your apartment?"

/

_Home sweet home,_ she thought as her eyes darted around the main room. "Luckily your apartment-", the young turtle started, but paused. "More like penthouse castle!"

"Oh please Mikey, be reasonable. My apartment isn't on the top floor and it's not that big"

"You're right. It's huge!" He exclaimed with his mouth hanging open. Jaylene chuckled softly and lightly punched his arm. She climbed through the balcony window and motioned for the orange banded turtle to follow. He clambered in after her and stared in awe at the room he stood in.

The light streamed gracefully into the room, leaving lightly colored splotches dancing across the room. It was noon, and the sun shone brightly in the sky, but wasn't too powerful to pierce their skin when its light entered the room. _Luckily I cleaned my apartment up in the afternoon the day before, _she beamed, quite proud with her work as she watched Mikey explore her home. He was clearly fascinated with the elegant furniture, and didn't hide the excitement in his voice when he came across something new. Spacious. The word the youngest turtle used to describe her home. "Donnie taught me that word", he said proudly. He wandered through the halls and peeked through every room, making sure he had a glimpse of everything and didn't leave anything unseen.

A room with a light blue door decorated with the waves of the sea, caught his attention. He ran his fingers over the patterns. "Every single door is decorated especially to what's inside of the room", he noted aloud. He grasped the doorknob, and the cold metal feel gave a tingling sensation running through his body. He twisted the knob and held his breath. The room he stood in amazed him.

The room wasn't humongous and decorated beautifully as the others, but in the middle, was a swimming pool. The smell of chlorine burst through the air and hit his nose. Two mini spa pools were built a few feet away from the main pool and water fountains sprouted around the edge of the pool and one in the center. Mikey screamed in excitement as he sprinted to the pool and canon bombed in. He surfaced to the top and lay on his back while kicking, with his knee pads and gear slightly weighing him down. A smile grew on his face. He placed his hands behind his head and giggled in delight as he enjoyed the moment of relaxation.

"I see you've found the indoor pool", Jaylene said from the other end of the pool. She sat down on the edge and swung her legs over so that her feet dipped lightly into the water. The water lapped at her toes and swam over the top of her feet. The water suddenly moved in front of her and she slowly looked up. She didn't even realize she was staring at the still water in between her toes, without a thought in her head.

The young turtle stood in the water in front of her, looking concerned. "I know this might sound too sudden but, do you still want to come on patrol with us tonight?" he asked with a hint of hope evident in his voice. A bit of guilt grew inside of her as she listened to him. She didn't know what to say to him. Jaylene knew Mikey was soft and sensitive, even though his brothers completely ignored that bit about him and still tease him anyway. She didn't want to hurt his feelings for the second time, but she didn't want to encounter the Foot again and Karai especially. "I would love to", she said when she figured out what to say, "but I can't. I-I don't want to fight Karai. I don't think I can even land a punch on her without almost crying, despite what Splinter said."

"What did sensei say? And what if Karai isn't there?" Mikey countered. He rested his hand on top of hers and rubbed his thumb on the smooth surface of her skin.

The brunette turned her head away from facing him, because one look would cause her to crack. She gently got on her feet and slowly pushed his hand away. "I'm sorry but I can't risk it. I just need to calm down, Y'know just have some time to myself", she replied; completely ignored his first question. A vibration against her left leg startled her. She dug into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She pressed the 'home' button on the bottom of the screen and the phone flickered to life. She swiped the lock and her home screen appeared. An instant notification popped up. Donnie was calling. She tapped the answer icon and placed the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey Donnie"

Awkward silence. She didn't know what to say and it seemed like neither did he. After a moment or two, the brunette started with a simple and non - awkward question.

"Um what's up?"

"I just needed to tell Mikey to come back. Since we didn't show up for early morning training, Splinter told us we have to train now. I tried to call him, but he didn't pick up"

So Donnie didn't call her to check up if she was alright. He only called to ask for Mikey. Wait a second, why was this bothering her? She kept a straight face and ignored the thought. Jaylene swallowed a lump in her throat as she held her phone out for the orange banded turtle, but he didn't notice. He was too busy searching for his t-phone. He patted his chest, waist, belt and finally found it. He pulled it out from behind him and nervously smiled. The phone was soaking wet. Pool water dripped down from the edge and plopped to the ground. Guess he forgot to take it out before he dived in.

He grabbed the phone from her hand and put it to where his unseen ear was. She giggled softly. She didn't realize they didn't have ears that look like a human's. _Oh well, it would have looked a tad weird if they did have human ears, _she thought as the image appeared in her mind. The brunette watched as Mikey talked with his brother. She could hear a distant 'Mikey you can visit her later' before he nodded and handed the phone back to her. "I have to go, but I might come back later", he said obviously feeling disappointed.

She followed him through the hallways until they reached the window of her balcony. He hopped over the frame and was just about to jump off, when she remembered something. "Hold on a sec Mikey", she tapped his shoulder and dashed off to the kitchen. She snatched a small white box sitting on the kitchen bench and shook it lightly to make sure the contents were inside. Jaylene scurried back to the turtle waiting by the window and tossed him the white box. He caught it and stared at her in surprise. The smell of something sweet seeped through the gaps of the lid and the turtle had the sudden urge to lick his lips. He slowly opened the box and gasped. A bunch of golden brown, round shaped, chocolate chip cookies were stacked inside. "Homemade chocolate chip cookies", the brunette told him. "Oh and save it for the other guys and sensei too."

Mikey gave her a quick hug as a thank you while carefully holding the box he closed shut. He jumped off the balcony and waved before disappearing into the shadows.

_**Fin**_

Finally done! Took me a while because I wanted to make sure the details were perfect, or at least descriptive enough to imagine. Jaylene also chats more with Mikey and Master Splinter since I wanted to include them a bit more in the story. I also wanted Mikey to talk and spend time with my OC so she is equally close with all the turtles. Please review! I love to read thoughts, feed back and feed forward. Happy New Year to everyone! (I do not own TMNT)


	12. Nightmares

New York City. Known for many things and has many nicknames including 'The city that never sleeps', and Jaylene couldn't agree more. For many nights, she couldn't sleep. It wasn't because of the car horns blaring all night and people rushing through the streets, since the area she lived in was surprisingly quiet. Well not to say 'you could hear a coin drop' quiet, but a 'no noisy cars and no people flooding the sidewalk' quiet. The area was what you say, peaceful, and you could definitely fall asleep without hesitation. Despite the lack of noise echoing through the streets, the brunette was still unable to shut her eyes and fall into a slumber.

Ever since her encounter with Karai slightly less than a month ago, an image of the dark haired, sixteen year old attacking her, popped into her mind every time her eyes were closed. She had been able to take a few naps in the day without a need to slap herself to stay awake, but those short moments weren't enough to keep her going through the day. Not that she did anything exhausting in the day, she only ate breakfast, did her morning exercises in the gym, read a book, eat lunch, read another book, meditate, surf the internet, take a shower, eat dinner and go to sleep.

Her tutor came from time to time and she sometimes picked up her kunai and trained, or shoots some arrows at a target. Anything to keep her occupied, and not thinking about Karai and her friends in the sewers. Most of the time though, she would sit on the balcony and watch the sun set. It calmed her, but the thoughts of the turtles appeared in her mind especially at that time. She loved the feel of the last light of day, warm on her skin, and she had the best view for it. The sun wasn't at its hottest in the evening, and there was always the cool breeze hitting her face and sending shivers down her spine, even though it was relaxing. April didn't usually visit her since she knew the brunette wanted to keep her distance, so she kept away. The turtles never visited her either, so she hasn't talked to them in weeks. She felt bored and lonely. Mikey said he would come back, but he never did and she figured that his brothers told him she needed time to herself, to figure out some things.

Several times she snatched her phone and forced herself to call one of her friends. She wanted to tell them that she couldn't sleep and kept getting nightmares, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Jaylene gently placed her phone back on her night stand and lay back down on her bed. She pulled the covers up to her chin and breathed in and out deeply. She watched the wind blow her curtains, and it looked similar to the rise and fall of her chest. Her eyes fluttered as she yawned, and she soon drifted off to sleep. _Here's me finally falling asleep. Well, sixteenth times the charm. _

_/_

She could feel the breeze of the wind sweep through her room and brush past her toes sticking out from her blanket. It was a good wake up call in the morning. Jaylene was glad she woke up before her alarm. The ringing of the clock blasting into her ear was not a very pleasant sound to listen to. Then again, she didn't have anything important to attend to, so shy did she need an alarm? She used to wake up early to train with the turtles, but she felt awkward visiting them after a while, so visiting them wasn't an option.

A sudden realization hit her head. She had slept for a full twelve hours without any problems. Wow, she thought. Why was it that she was able to sleep without any nightmares last night? Why only last night? The thought irritated her. _It could've been I don't know, the first night I came home that my nightmares disappeared! Then I wouldn't have to face that problem. _She pushed aside her angry thoughts and cracked a smile. Her eyes fluttered open and she sat up in her bed, slowly rubbing her eyes. The brunette sighed as she gazed at the small photo frame sitting on her nightstand. It was a glossy picture of her, April, the turtles and Splinter lounging in the living room and it was taken by her old Polaroid camera. She fought the urge to start crying, but felt a wet substance trickling down her cheek. It was a tear that slipped out of her control.

She glimpsed a flicker of movement near the door with the corner of her eye. Jaylene kicked the covers off herself and hopped off the bed. The blankets flopped to the ground creating a noisier sound than her landing on the carpeted floor. She focused her eyes on the miniature black creature flying in clumsy circles. It looked like an aero plane soaring through the sky and doing the loopty loop. _Great, it was just a stupid fly, _she thought as she glared at the creature innocently buzzing around the room. She yanked open the bottom drawer of her nightstand and snatched the small, but deadly weapon. Her face appeared blurry on the material and she squeezed the handle before throwing it, sharp edge first. Her kunai zipped through the air and struck the door. Stained on the point of her weapon, was a dot of blood, and parts of the dead fly. _Never knew a fly could bother me so much. _

Another sudden movement occurred, but this time it was outside her room. "What's happening?" she murmured as she rubbed her temples with her fingertips. She tiptoed to the door and grasped her kunai. With one powerful tug, the weapon was no longer stuck on the door, although it did leave a visible, nasty hole. She silently swung the door open and pointed her weapon at the surroundings in front of her. "Donnie, Leo, Raph or Mikey! Or whoever is in here, show yourself!" she called out to the empty room. It bothered her that one or all of the turtles might've entered her home without her permission. Not only did it bother her, but it made her furious. She gritted her teeth and paced back and forth across the room.

Light footsteps thumped against the floor. She froze. It was like, whoever stood behind her wanted her to know that he/she was there. The brunette spun around, but nothing was there. "Is my mind playing games with me?" she wondered aloud. She could feel someone standing behind her and she gulped.  
"No, your mind isn't playing games with you", the stranger replied to her rhetorical question. She tensed up and could feel the breathing against her neck. The inhaling and exhaling blew the small strands of her hair back and forth. She could see it from the corners of her eyes. Her feet were rooted to the floor and she was afraid she would make the wrong move.

A peculiar smell drifted to her nose and her head began to feel dizzy. Her vision slowed down and became blurry. Chloroform. She knew that smell anywhere. Jaylene shook her head to clear her mind, but she found herself unable to. She then realized a cloth was pressed firmly against her nose. The stranger also held her in a sort of headlock, and she gasped as she struggled to breathe. Her breathing was ragged as she collapsed to the floor. She tried to roll on her back to catch a glimpse of the stranger, but didn't have the strength to. The last thing she saw were the sandals on the intruder's feet, along with the glint of silvery metal.

/

Jaylene slowly opened her eyes to find a bright white light shining on her face. It blinded her vision, and every time she turned her head, all she saw was a fuzzy white substance. She lifted her hands to block the light, but she couldn't. She found herself sitting in an old rickety chair with her hands tied behind her back, and her legs tied together. Luckily whoever captured her didn't tie a gag around her mouth, but when she thought about it again, it wouldn't really matter if they gagged her or not. If she called out, there would be a higher chance her capturer would come down and do whatever to her, than a hero bursting through the door, getting her out of the unknown location. Maybe she could break the chair and then untie the knots?

The chair was unstable as she wriggled in her seat, and she feared it would fall apart anytime soon. It wasn't strong enough to support her weight. _Oh well, I'd rather break the chair, injure myself, but escape, than wait for my capturer to come down and do something to me, _she thought. Breaking the chair was her only option for escape, so she continued wriggling in her seat. Light footsteps thumped against the floor. Judging from the speed and the sound of the footsteps, she figured that it was the same person that intruded her apartment. The brunette quickly shut her eyes and relaxed her muscles, pretending she was still unconscious. Her capturer was smarter than she thought though. "I know you're already awake", a feminine voice said to her.

An instant when she heard the voice, it encouraged her to continue to act unconscious. A pain suddenly shot her cheek and her eyes snapped open. Jaylene exhaled heavily. She didn't realize she was holding her breath. She turned her head towards the person standing before her, but she didn't gasp in surprise. Her blue orbs drifted from the bottom of her capturer's feet and stopped at her face to meet her eyes. "Hello Jaylene", Karai greeted. She stuck out her hand and waited. An evil smile sprouted on her face as she chuckled. Her menacing laugh echoed through the atmosphere, and it lingered in the air like a never ending sound.

As the brunette licked her lips nervously, she felt a sour taste in her mouth. Blood. Her cheek and her lips were bleeding. She stared at the dark haired girl's hand mockingly held right in front of her eyes. "Oh wait, I forgot that your hands were tied up", Karai spoke up again. She clenched her hands as she drew it back behind her ear before she delivered an agonizing punch. A cracking sound ripped through the air and everything happened in slow motion.

The impact from the punch caused Jaylene to wobble in her seat and fall backwards to the floor. As her hands came in contact with the cold floor, she knew everything afterwards would be painful. A bright white light flashed in front of her eyes, and it didn't come from the light that shone on her face earlier. She didn't remember collapsing to the ground, or how long she lay on the floor before opening her eyes. The chair had broken and her legs and arms were suddenly and surprisingly free as she picked herself up from the ground. _That was way too easy,_ she thought. She grabbed her sore wrist and rubbed it gently.

The brunette completely forgot Karai was standing in front of her, but this time she was holding a very precious item. As she looked up at the teen, she did a double take and backed away from her. "But how-?" She asked in surprise. She patted her jacket, pockets and pants thinking that hopefully, her weapon was still with her, but no, it was in Karai's hands. She could clearly see the dark haired girl holding her kunai and she wanted to believe it wasn't true. "You will never wake up from this", she said as she twirled the weapon with her index finger. _Wake up? Why on earth would she say tha-, _but her thoughts were cut short when Karai kicked her in the chest. The blow winded Jaylene and she tumbled to the floor, spewing blood out. Karai aimed the kunai at the teen and threw it, like a knife to a target. The weapon shot through the air and struck the brunette in the hand. She winced as she clutched her hand, but as she rolled on the floor in pain, a thought occurred to her. Her finger should've been sliced off and the wound surprisingly didn't hurt as much as she thought. An injury like that should've caused more pain unless...

Jaylene crawled across the floor and hurriedly grabbed her kunai lying on the floor beside her, and for the first time, she noticed her surroundings. The room was pitch black, apart from the light of the lamp, taking away some of the darkness and replacing it with bright white light. Karai as her capturer, the broken chair, her limbs that were free suddenly, Karai getting a hold of her weapon, her injury that didn't bring any pain, it all began to make sense. She was in a dream. _Well nightmare_, she corrected herself. Her nightmares always had Karai and her in a battle or Karai trying to get her revenge on her, so this scenario being a nightmare was the most likely reason. The brunette stood up and locked her eyes with Karai while bringing her weapon out in front of her. The sharp edge suddenly took a turn and was now facing Jaylene. "I can get out of this nightmare Karai", she stated and jabbed the weapon at her own chest. Before her vision went black, she glanced at the dark haired girl who was glaring at her with red flaming fire bursting from behind her. _Sayonara my friend, _the words blinked like neon lights in her head as everything turned black.

/

Jaylene woke up from her nightmare gasping. Two things popped into her mind. One, she was extremely relieved that she escaped from her 'Frenemy' and two, this was one of the worst nightmares she had. It just felt so, real. There were parts of her nightmare that definitely weren't real, but none of her nightmares had ever started at her home. That was probably why she thought it was real in the first place. She placed her hand flat on her chest and could feel her heart racing. She glanced at her phone on her nightstand just like she did a few hours ago. Just staring at it made her feel strangely queasy, like it was mocking her. "Who cares if I haven't spoken to the turtles in ages!" she yelled out. She hastily grabbed her phone and dialed a number.

"Hello?" a sleepy voice answered and she smiled softly. Out of all the turtles, she preferred to talk to the red banded turtle. Leo, Donnie and Mikey were the turtles she should've called if she wanted someone to comfort her, but her mind only switched back to the morning after the battle with the Foot and Karai. Raph was the one to check on her, he was the one to comfort her. He was the shoulder she could cry on. "R-Raph? Can you please come here?" she pleaded. She could hear shuffling in the background and a small yawn before he replied. "Yeah sure, I'll be there in a sec", and he hung up. Jaylene tossed her phone back on her nightstand and in skimmed in rapid circles before it came to a halt. She drew her legs towards her and gently rocked back and forth.

A couple of minutes later, there was a small knock at the window. The brunette's heart beat wildly as she shakily walked to the window and grasped the handles. She tugged to open it, but it didn't seem to work. _No! No! Please don't let this be a dream!, _she panicked and tugged harder. After several seconds of pulling, she noticed the latch was still hooked. Jaylene sheepishly grinned and thanked that Raph didn't know what was going on from the other side. She unhooked the latch and with one last heave, the window was open. A gust of wind blew against her body and face causing her to shiver uncontrollably. She trudged to her bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed still shivering.

"Do you know what time it is Jay?" The first sentence Raph said to the brunette. No hellos or kind greetings, but he was really tired. He stepped into her bedroom, rubbing his eye, and stopped when he saw the state his friend was in. The same kind of fear as the morning after the big battle appeared in her eyes and he could instantly tell it had something to do with no other than…Karai. He wished he had taken back what he said to her about the time, but luckily she didn't hear it. He clenched his teeth as he stomped towards the brunette and plopped onto the bed beside her.  
"What did Karai do?!"  
"It was only a nightmare. For the past nights when I didn't visit you guys, I've been having nightmares about Karai and me battling each other. I didn't want to tell you guys ever since I left because it made me feel like I would only call you when I needed you, and it was selfish of me", she started off and he nodded for her to continue and to show he was listening.  
"Anyway with the dream, it started off when I woke up and thought that for the first time I didn't have a nightmare, but I was suddenly knocked out by an intruder", and she could hear his fists clench once she mentioned the intruder which he knew was Karai. "I woke up tied up to a chair and Karai punched me twice without even saying why I was there. The chair broke when I fell backwards and I was no longer tied up. Karai threw my kunai at my hand, but it surprisingly didn't hurt and none of my fingers were sliced off. I knew it was a dream, so I h-had to stab-", but she was cut off when the red banded turtle hugged her.

He couldn't listen any longer even though her nightmare recounting was close to the ending. He knew how it was going to end once she said the word 'stab'. The rest of it wasn't going to be pleasant for her. She was also on the verge of tears, and he could tell from the tone of her voice. Jaylene responded to his hug and wrapped her arms around his shell. The same sentence repeated in both their minds, _Just like that morning. _The red banded turtle released his grip and scooted away so she wouldn't notice his blushing. _It' sort of dark though, so she can't see anyway, _a voice from his head reassured him. "Um Raph?" the brunette suddenly piped up, "Can I sleep over at the lair? Just for tonight?"

He nodded without hesitation and replied, "I know you're still feeling shocked from your nightmare, so it's alright." He picked her up in his arms and flew out the window. The moonlight shone brightly on Raph holding the teen in his arms as he ran on the rooftops. The moonbeams drifted across the concrete like a path, guiding their way to the lair, and pigeons glided in the sky above the peaceful area around them. It felt enchanting.

Jaylene was still a little dazed from the magical moment they had when he ran across the rooftops with the moon smiling down at them, that she didn't notice Raph had tucked her into the bed of the guest bedroom at the lair, and he sat on the edge of it, gazing at her. "Remember the first time you stayed here?" he said and pulled her away from her daydreaming. "We had a movie night and you fell asleep on the couch while everyone else, including April, had headed back to bed. Splinter said it was alright for you to stay for one night since you seemed tired, so I picked you up and put you in the exact same bed you are lying in now", he reminded her, trying to cheer her up. He nonchalantly dropped his hand on hers and looked into her eyes. Her mind was somewhere else as he gazed at her, so he shrugged and stood up to leave her alone.

A hand grasping his stopped him. "Can you please stay with me while I sleep?" she asked. When she replayed what she had said in her mind, she sounded like a small child scared of monsters hiding in her closet and under the bed. She blushed but thankfully, he agreed to her question and seated himself at the edge of the bed much like he did before. "This is going to ruin my reputation", he muttered but didn't mean it in a bad way. _More like **change **my reputation, not ruin it,_ he corrected himself. Jaylene laid her head on the pillow and grinned at his words as she fell asleep, knowing she was safe and wouldn't have any nightmares anymore.

_**Fin**_

Okay sorry about the last part, I think I was sort of lazy when I wrote that bit. I was also listening to happy, jumpy music as I was writing which was killing the mood of that section. I might update more often in the next two or three weeks since my school holidays are coming to an end and I want to finish this before school starts. I do not own TMNT and please review! I just want to make sure there are people still reading, and I want to know what you think! Also sorry for the fluff in this chapter! The story is not all about this, because there is more to come, but it does include Raph x OC; just saying it as a reminder.


	13. Return to the action

A small movement near Jaylene's feet caused her to stir in her sleep. She let out a content purr and mumbled some inaudible words as she changed sleeping positions. Something standing close to her whispered, "I think she's awake", and the reply was a small shuffling sound coming from the edge of her bed. She was awake ever since the small bit of movement occurred near her feet, plus she was not a heavy sleeper and would wake up from the slightest movement or noisy sound in earshot. It was good thing she was a light sleeper, so she was alert every single moment. The 'nightmares attacking her every time she tried to close her eyes' wasn't helping though, because her actions became quite sluggish and she's not as alert as she was before.

The brunette was fully aware that she had guests in her room, even though she was the guest in the lair sleeping in the guest bedroom. She slowly opened her eyes, and found a pair of light blue ones staring right at hers. She yelped in surprise and gripped onto the bed sheets to prevent herself from falling off the bed. Her eyes glared at the young turtle cheekily beaming at her. "I know, that's how I found him when I woke up. Right. Up. In. My. Face", a voice sounding annoyed from beside her spoke. She turned her head and found the red banded turtle also glaring at his little brother. The tension lasted for three minutes as Raph glared at Mikey, and Mikey just blankly stared at him back, thinking it was a staring competition.

"Okay!" Leo clasped his hands together. It created a loud slapping sound that caused the walls to vibrate a bit, and only then, Jaylene noticed Leo and Donnie's presence in the room. The tension in the room snapped like a twig and the two brothers titled their heads towards their leader. The brunette exhaled gratefully, knowing someone responsible was in the room, and if Leo hadn't stepped in, who knows what Raph would do to Mikey. Things would not have ended well for him. "So Jaylene! What are you doing visiting us all of a sudden? Or should I say, visiting our brother, Raphael?" he asked and stifled a laugh. He nudged Mikey and Donnie standing beside him and gave an 'am I right?' look.

The red banded turtle boiled red with rage and clenched his fists. A soft hand laid on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks. A small, soft, feminine hand. An instant when her hand was on his shoulder, he felt calm and at peace. It was as if her touch had the power to relax him. He tilted his head and faced Jaylene who wore a pleading expression, begging him to not hurt his brother because of a bit of teasing. _I was right, this is going to ruin my reputation; I think I'm going soft, _he sighed in disappointment. Raph slowly nodded in return, and as if Mikey read his mind, he rapidly spilled out, "Looks like you're going soft Raphie!"

"That's it!" the red banded turtle stomped towards his little brother. Jaylene placed her hand on his shoulder once again, but this time, with a little more force. She pulled him away from doing an act he would regret, and he gave a quick growl at Mikey before seating himself on the bed. The blue banded turtle rolled his eyes, not impressed with his younger brother's behavior, but quite surprised he didn't throw a punch at anyone. Ever since the brunette had spent time with them two months ago, Raphael was not like himself. He acted kinder and perhaps, more gentle around everyone. The insults he fired at Mikey were less frequent and Leo remembered him one time following Jaylene around like a little duckling following its mother. He doesn't even remember Raph following Master Splinter around like that, so yes, the girl has changed him a lot more than he had realized. _He must really like her, _he smiled as he watched the brunette talk to his brother in a tone that Splinter uses when he is proud or praises their work. _Too bad she doesn't know or realize it. _

"I wasn't visiting Raph, Leo", the brunette butted in to answer his forgotten question. Before she could continue, the blue banded turtle cut in to put forward another comment he had off the tip of his tongue. He was rather enjoying teasing Raph since Jaylene wouldn't allow him to do anything violent. She acted as his handcuffs, restricting any hurtful movements he might make, or a conscience, guiding him to make the right choices. "Then how come I found you two sleeping on the guest bed together?" Leo asked and waggled his eyebrows. Mikey fell to the floor with his hands around his stomach, cackling while Donnie was silently snickering to himself. The red banded turtle got on his feet and stomped to his brother much like before.

The brunette held her hands back and let him explode. It was the only way he would properly calm down, and she didn't exactly want to stand in his way. Who knows how angry he would get if she blocked him again.  
"Technically, Jaylene was sleeping on the top of the bed near the pillows while Raph was sleeping near her legs"  
"Technically, I'm going to shut you up!"  
Raph charged forward, but a strong hand caught his arm and this time, it wasn't Jaylene's. Leo looked into his brother's eyes with a firm look and Raph glowered back at him. "I'm sorry I didn't visit you guys for a month", a small voice said.

The turtles turned their heads to face the brunette. She figured that an apology was the best way to start off. Someone needed to break up the fight and since the eldest turtle was in the fight, she needed to step up. "I'm sorry I didn't visit you guys for a month", she repeated to make sure the two brothers would stop before the bedroom turned into a wrestling arena. Leo released his grip on Raph and took his position next to Donnie and Mikey, while Raph sat back down on the bed. "I should've visited sooner because I missed hanging out with you guys and I've been bored at home with not much to do. I also need to talk to you guys about the nightmares I've been receiving", and paused to watch the quizzical expressions appear on the three turtle's faces.

"After the battle with Karai, nightmares of her trying to get revenge on me kept appearing every time I tried to sleep. Only last night I chose to call one of you guys to help me because the nightmare was worse than usual." She glanced at Raph sitting next to her and gave a soft smile conveying an expression of gratitude. She also decided to leave out the actual nightmare because she couldn't stand the images from the nightmare whizzing through her mind every time she thought, or spoke about it. "I called Raph and he let me sleep in the guest bedroom like I did a while ago. I uh, also asked him to stay here, just to test if the nightmares would come around at all." Jaylene muttered the last bit and faced in the other direction to avoid the red banded turtle to notice her blushing.

There were no feelings she had for him, but she trusted him the most and knew he would protect her no matter what, even in her dreams or as she slept. And there were no nightmares last night so her test did work. What she didn't account for was why he was found sleeping on the bed after she asked him to stay for a bit, not sleep for the rest of the night. The brunette told herself that he was tired, and didn't have the strength to sleep in his bed so he just fell asleep in her bed. _Must've been awkward for him to try and explain to his brothers, _she thought.

"There is a perfect and logical explanation to how you kept receiving nightmares", the purple banded turtle piped up. He walked to Jaylene and knelt on one knee in front of her. He rested both his hands on top of hers and began to explain. "You probably got traumatized from your battle with Karai and that is usually the cause of nightmares. It's sort of like, after you watch a horror film and you might get nightmares about whatever you watched. You must've been really traumatized though to receive nightmares about Karai every single time you tried to sleep. A good way to get rid of nightmares is to write them down and change the nightmare in any way you wished. Then, write down the changed version and try rehearsing it while you close your eyes and relax. Try to rehearse your changed scenario once a day in three consecutive days or until it goes away."

He stopped briefly and could imagine Mikey's reaction after listening to his theory. When he turned around, his little brother looked like his head had exploded from a TNT. _A TNT of my intelligence, _he added before he continued. "Usually, if you write your dreams down every night, you would learn to control it, control whatever happens. Unless, you had your nightmares disappeared from a certain someone…" he trailed off as he directed his sentence at Raph. He coughed a couple of times and the red banded turtle slapped his cheek to shut him up. His brothers were acting quite annoying in his opinion, but he was always irritated from the slightest teasing. Considering he was the one to always tease his brothers, he didn't like being on the 'other side'.

"Okay guys, push aside that stuff and let's get serious", the youngest turtle piped up. All eyes were on him. _I wonder what Mikey is going to say. Sounds serious, _Raph waited curiously for his brother to continue. "Jaylene…can you come on patrol with us tonight?" Mikey asked eagerly. _Huh spoke too soon,_ the red banded turtle faced palmed and scolded his brother. "She's too traumatized – uh scared – to go with us patrol. Be patient. She'll come with us when she is ready, and I'm pretty sure she is ready for whatever happens, right Leo?" Raph asked forcefully. The blue banded turtle nodded in return, not wanting to face his brother's wrath again. He didn't have time for any of his brother's temper tantrums. "Fine, fine. Is she ready now?"  
"No"  
"How about now?"  
"No"  
"Now?"  
"No…"

/

Her nightmares faded as she resumed to her routine of hanging out and training with the turtles. Jaylene used the 'how to get rid of nightmares' theory from Donnie, plus her meditating sessions with Splinter and finally got rid of her nightmares. Two months passed by and her confidence was restored, so Mikey took this chance to ask her the same question he had been asking her for a while.

It was a warm early morning and Jaylene was alone in the dojo doing some exercises and practicing her taijutsu with a dummy. The sunlight entered from the hole on the roof and it looked like yellow streamers were hanging from above. The hole one the roof reminded the brunette of a skylight. She used to lie in her bed, watching the stars at night, but since it was day, there were no stars out. The hole was possibly more like a spotlight, shining down on Jaylene who trained in the center of the dojo like it was a theater stage.

Mikey sat in a crouching position in the tree branches, watching her practice. He had never seen anyone train so hard in his entire life. Well, most of his life he had been stuck living in the sewers and the only company he had was Splinter, Donnie, Leo and Raph. Even he has never seen Leo train so hard, and he was the serious leader in the young turtle's opinion. The teen girl had once said to him, "training was the only way to put my mind off things. It's sort of like, how Raph punches his punching bags to get rid of his anger", but he never understood what she meant. Anything he did made him think of his beloved…pizza.

As he scratched his chin while sitting in a frog crouching position, he thought about what would happen if he asked her if she would come on patrol with them. Two small grey clouds of smoke each appeared on his shoulders and once it disappeared, two miniature Michelangelos stood in its place. The mini Mikey on his right shoulder wore a white mask, white knee pads and white elbow pads. His gear was white, while the mini Mikey on his left wore a red mask and his gear was red. "Ask her if she wants to come on patrol! You've waited a long time!" the red masked Mikey said to him. The white masked Mikey on his right shook his head and said, "Don't ask her. She might not be ready to go out just yet. Remember what Leo said."

The orange banded turtle nodded at the white masked version and dug through his mind, searching for anything Leo said, but nothing came up. He looked at the mini Mikey on his right in confusion as the red masked Mikey rolled his eyes. "Don't listen to him. He can't even prove his point. Listen to me; ask her to go on patrol with you guys." Mikey shrugged and nodded again. He flicked off the white masked version of himself as the red version turned into a cloud of smoke and disappeared. "Leo is in the living room watching 'Space Heroes', Raph has gone out to get pizza and Donnie is in his lab. No one can stop me", he whispered to himself. The last part sounded somewhat sort of evil, but he shook that thought off.

He slid down the tree and tiptoed towards the teen girl. He touched her shoulder lightly and said, "Hey Jay, do yo–", but he was cut off when she grabbed his arm and flipped him over her shoulder. He landed hard on his shell and was winded from the impact. "Mikey?! I'm so sorry, I thought you were someone else!" Jaylene apologized as she squatted down beside him. She grasped his arm again and pulled him to his feet. The orange banded turtle rubbed his head sorely and the white masked Mikey appears on his shoulder again. "Now what did I tell you?" he scolds the dizzy turtle. He is soon joined by a mini version of Leonardo as they both continue scolding him. The young turtle swats them away with his hand and looks at the brunette sheepishly. It was an expression he gave her often.

"Um Jay, can you please come with us on patrol?" he gets down on his knees and begs. He was planning to cry so the teen would give in, but he would save that for when she says no. He gives her the largest puppy eyes and she sighs. "Okay, okay Mikey. I'll go with you guys tonight", she said with an exasperated tone. There was no point in explaining why she didn't want to go just yet. The young turtle plainly nodded in return, showing that he wasn't listening. It was better for her to agree to go with them on patrol, instead of having Mikey interrupt her training at unexpected moments. By the end of the week, he would have broken bones everywhere if he snuck up on her every time. She picks up her kunai lying on the mat and slides it in its case before trudging out the dojo to inform every one of her decision.

/

"Are you sure that Karai is not around?" Jaylene asks for the fifth time. She was nervous about her second patrol with them and feared the dark haired girl would show up any moment. She knew the turtles would protect her from anything and anyone, but she had a small bit of doubt, buried deep inside her. She didn't want to be living her nightmare. "Yes I'm sure. We've been at patrol for months when you didn't want to come, and there was no sign of Karai, at all", Leo replied with the irritation evident in his voice. The brunette's eyes widened and she didn't reply to his harsh tone. She was taken aback by it and decided not to say anything until after the patrol.

As they ran on the rooftops silently, the blue banded turtle felt the feeling of guilt grow inside of him. It made him feel slightly queasy in the stomach. A growl from the back of his throat escaped from his lips.  
_Why does she have to ask so much?!  
She is afraid that her enemy will step out of the shadows without warning, _a voice sounding like Master Splinter's replied to his rhetorical question.  
_I know that she is afraid Karai might suddenly show up, but she isn't the only one with Karai haunting her dreams. _Leo gasped, but quietly thanked that he wasn't thinking aloud. He was glad he didn't say that part out loud. His brothers wouldn't leave him alone for weeks if they heard that.

_She doesn't have anything to worry about. We're here to protect her, the sky is covered with bright stars, and it seems like even the weather is with us, _he thought. Everything was just like he described. The sky was decorated with billions of stars and Mikey often said that, "It looked like a jar full of glitter threw up." The clouds were puffs of cotton and it stole the limelight from the bright white moon. He looked back at Jaylene behind him and even she was awestruck by the peacefulness and beauty. The expression on her face was conveying that she was feeling déjà vu, and Raph surprisingly had the same look plastered on his face.

The brunette tilted her head in every direction to try and take mental pictures of what she saw, but something felt…odd. She depended on her ears to detect something, not her eyes. She hasn't trusted her eyes lately, ever since her nightmare that felt too real. Finally, she caught something. She could hear the same footsteps as her capturer in her nightmare. Her running pace slowed down as she shook her head. _Maybe I'm hallucinating? Wait what's the word…paracusia? Maybe I'm hearing things._ The footsteps became louder and louder, and that's not possible, right? She slowed down her pace even more. The footsteps died down as she eventually came to a halt. A voice erased the thought convincing her she was having paracusia.

"Hello again."

_**Fin**_

Mikey's hard efforts finally paid off! I had to do a bit of researching to write this up, including the nightmare theory and 'paracusia' . I've been meaning to update two or three chapters in a week, but I don't know how that's going to work out. I've been sort of stressed thinking of ways to stretch the story and make it all work. I might finish this story over the next month or three weeks, not sure. Anyway, I do not own TMNT and I appreciate the reviews, but please keep them coming! I sort of sit there every day, waiting for more.


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